Hold On
by LittleGreenMonsters
Summary: AU - A car accident turns Beth's whole world upside down leaving her completely crippled by the demands of her new life. With the help of her favorite teacher, Mr Dixon, can she rebuild the foundations of her new life before it becomes too hard to handle? Eventually Beth/Daryl.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this is my first Walking Dead fanfiction. I'm a little nerves as I haven't posted a new story in a very long tme but I hope you like it. Please read and review as your comments are always valuable!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.**

Chapter 1

The news had spread around school before she could even step one foot inside. The factual story of events had become diluted and it stemmed a lot of different rumours. The worst was that her Daddy had shot her mother and brother dead after finding them having an affair. This version of events was vile yet somehow people believed it, even though it wasn't at all true. Parts of it were true, her mother and brother had died but her Daddy hadn't done it.

She had worn the scares that proved that that particular story was incorrect. There had been a traffic collision in which a car, driven by a drunken man, had smashed into the driver's side of her mother's car. Beth had been sat in the passenger seat, her mother sat behind the wheel and Shawn was behind her. Annette had died instantly but Shawn had fought until late next morning and passed away due to brain damage. Beth hadn't been to badly injured, cuts and bruises mainly, but had sat in the car for hours as she waited for the emergency services to arrive. The road had been mainly deserted that night. It had been this that was the worst part, the waiting. She had called out for her family but they didn't answer. This had been their fate and many times she had wished it was hers too.

Beth had been in the hospital for a few days and her Daddy had tried to be around as much as he could but he had spent a lot of the time arranging the funerals. She tried to understand but it hurt that she was left alone, with no one to confide in. She was discharged after four days.

He had sold their horses to pay for the funerals and they had been a blur of agony. Maggie had come down from college in Atlanta which was nice but her presence only made the situation worse as she spent most of the visit arguing with daddy. Then, after one particularly heated argument, Maggie up and left.

It took a day to understand why she had left. Maggie was never one to be so hot headed but the evening after she had gone Hershel had stumbled into the house, completely intoxicated. It was then that Beth understood. He had relapsed and was trying to drink away the pain. She watched him with a feeling of envy, she couldn't distract herself and the pain still made her cry at night.

Hershel's drinking continued and gradually got worse and worse. At first he had only drunk in the evening, spending the rest of the day on the farm, tending the animals and crops, but it got much worse and soon he would still be drunk from the day before then he would continue the cycle. His behaviour was completely unacceptable but Beth was too afraid to say anything, he was quite vicious when he was drunk. He would often say hurtful things about how it should have been Beth and not Shawn who had died. Shawn was Hershel's only son and Beth was his youngest child and second daughter. Father and son had had a much closer bond than the two of them.

Everything had occurred during Beth's summer holidays. By the time she had gone back to school she had mostly healed up but she still wore the bandage on her wrist when it had been hurt in the crash. All eyes had been on her when she had walked through those school doors. The chatter had begun and they didn't even try to hide that it was about her.

Most of the things they said were about the crash but Hershel's behaviour was also discussed. Without Beth's knowledge of his whereabouts 24/7 she couldn't dismiss their comments, with him stumbling around the local bars and liquor stores. She didn't doubt they were true though. Most of the time, Beth didn't know where he had gotten the alcohol.

Her first day had dragged on like nothing else she had ever experienced. Beth's friends had tried to be understanding but they couldn't seem to understand the grief she was going through. After all they were all coddled southern belles who had no idea how harsh the world could be. Before she had been like that too but because of their lack of compassion she knew she couldn't talk to them about how hard she was finding it.

Most of the teachers hadn't helped either. Each of them, in one way or another, had reassured Beth that they could talk to them about it, that they would be here for her but this only made her turn away even more.

There was one teacher who hadn't done that, her favourite teacher in fact. Mr Dixon, her history teacher, gave her no extra attention, just a nod of the head as he had done many times before. He had always been like that. It was one of the reasons why he was her favourite teacher. Everyone who stepped in his classroom had to follow his rules and if they didn't they would be sent out, spending the rest of the class alone in the corridor. No one was safe from this rule; trouble makers and teacher's pets had the same rules. He was a no bullshit type of teacher. This was something admirable as it was rare that a teacher was so stern with his rules.

The day ended in his class. She was sat in the middle exactly, from the rows from the front and to the side. Beside Beth, to the left, was her friend Eleanor who she had known since they were children. That sounded impressive but Beth wasn't really that close to her, they seemed to clash more than get along. She was a friend all the same though; a partner when pairing up was required.

Behind Beth, occupying the whole of the next row, sat a group of girls who she had dreaded seeing. Mainly it was their leader, Rosie Wilson, who she didn't want to see. It had been her party in which Shawn had been too drunk to drive home from. They had been cautioned by the police for throwing the party and as soon as Beth sat down, she made it clear that she blamed her for it.

"Come to ruin something else for me?" Rosie had asked and Beth just looked at her with a deer in the headlights type of expression. Was this girl really blaming her for the Wilson's caution when it had been Beth's mother and brother who had died? It wasn't like the caution would impede on the rest of her life, it had only been issued to her parents who had allowed the party. They had after all been the ones to supply their underage guests with alcohol. Surely Rosie should be the one that felt the guilt.

Mr Dixon hadn't let anyone else speak and had gotten on with the lesson almost immediately. He was teaching them about something in which Beth couldn't concentrate on. She was thankful that he didn't pick her out to answer and instead picked out Rosie, disciplining her for speaking out of place.

Class ended when the bell had wrung and Beth left the classroom as fast as she could. It wasn't fast enough though and Rosie and her clan were quick to follow her. They shouted insult after insult which cut so deep that Beth wanted to cry. She didn't, refusing to crumble underneath the weight. Walking as quickly out of the building as the rules of no running would allow.

Maggie's old ford truck, with peeling light blue paint and large rust spots, didn't stand out among the rest. Most of them were second hand but Beth could tell it was hers that won the title as the oldest. She wouldn't change one thing about it though as it was exactly what she could ever want. It was a welcome haven, even at home, a sanctuary that drowned out everything.

Home wasn't exactly where she wanted to go, it was an improvement to the bombardment she had just faced at school yet at the same time it didn't offer the same comfort. At school she could pretend, even for a few moments, that her mother and brother were still alive. For a moment during that first day she had forgotten that they were gone. Guilt had overwhelmed her but it felt good to not be haunted by it, even if it was just for a minute.

The house was quiet when she walked in. Wreckage from her father's drunken mood swings was left for her to clean up and she immediately got to it. Most of the things were picture frames and Beth had to bite her lip to stop from breaking into sobs. The smiling faces of her fallen family members looked up at her as she placed them back in their rightful spaces.

"Bethy." She jumped, turning to see her father leaning heavily against the open doorframe to the sitting room. He had a pained look on his face as he lifted his eyes to hers. The light that had once shone from them had been extinguished; they were lifeless and held an abyss of darkness.

"I'm gunna need you to feed the an-an-animals." He slurred through his sentence and Beth watched the words tumble from his mouth. She nodded giving him a small smile but he didn't return it and instead turned back into the sitting room and drank another bottle of beer.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was hold Beth climbed the stair to change. The chores around the farm had been neglected, save feeding the animals, and the vegetable gardens had grown wild. She would make it right though, with her father not working they would need the food which tending the farm would bring. Until her father found his feet, she would step up and help.

Wondering down to the barn, a pale of water in one hand and a bucket of feed in the other, she greeted the cattle with a smile. They noticed her presents and began moving against their fencing, mooing and grazing the wood as she moved closer.

"Hello cows." She said as she poured the feed into the troughs and the water into the one beside it. The cows, all 12 of them, began chowing down on the food and Beth frowned. It wasn't nearly enough to keep them satisfied but she hadn't feed them before so she had no idea what else to do. The bales of hay to the side of the pen caught her eye and, with a pitchfork in hand, began shovelling the dried grass over the fences. Sighing she wiped her brow and continued onto the next task.

The chickens stuck inside their pen house and the eggs that had been laid were broken and had left a mess inside. She opened the small door and let them wander out. As a tool of distraction she grabbed the feed from the crate beside the chicken house and quickly threw handfuls out onto the small dry mud plains, and the chickens immediately began pecking up the food.

As she began cleaning up the broken eggs she glanced back at her house, thoughts flying through her head. Looking at how many eggs there were here Beth guessed that it must have been at least three days since they were last seen to. Had her father really left it that long? She cursed herself, after all, she lived on the farm as well and she had just as much responsibility to the farm as he did. She wouldn't allow this to happen again but she wouldn't confront him. She would do as she promised herself, she would step up and take over the job.

Beth knew a lot more about the vegetable gardens than she did about tending the animals. Her mother was a keen gardener and she had inherited the same love. They had spent endless amounts of time weeding and watering the potatoes and other root vegetables. They hadn't grown wild as she had thought, the last person to see to them was Annette and she had been dead for just over a month now. A laugh escaped her lips. She had expected the worst but had not thought about it logically and it was easy to water the growing garden. The task was done quite quickly.

The sun was setting over the treetops and Beth didn't realise how long it had taken her. The farm wasn't large but it was a lot of work for one person especially as one as inexperienced as she was.

Walking back to the chicken coop she made sure they were back inside the pen before she went back to the house. The muffled sound of Hershel's snores could be heard and Beth smiled as she saw his form laid out on the couch in the darkening room.

Beth's belly rumbled as she got to work making dinner. This was a task she had picked up immediately after Maggie had left and it was one in which she enjoyed. It was quite therapeutic and the preparation left her a lot of time to think.

The vegetables were being chopped and deposited in the pan when the phone began to wring. The sound made her jump and she darted across the kitchen to pick it up, hoping that the noise had not woken her father. After accepting the call she took a few moments to listen but she couldn't hear him stirring.

"Hello?" she said in a hushed tone and Maggie's voiced answered with a relieved tone,

"Beth, thank god, I thought I would get daddy again." Beth sighed, this meant that she had called up previously, an unknown amount of times, since this was the first call she knew of from her older sister. The reason of the call became immediately clear and Maggie began interrogating her about how their father was doing.

"He's doing as well as he could be." Was Beth's reply, it was partly defensive and almost unrevealing as to how Hershel was really coping with the new hand life had dealt him. Maggie already knew about the drinking but she assumed he was still taking on the roles that the farm needed. Beth decided not to correct her, she didn't want to worry her older sister any more than she already was.

"You can come live with me in Atlanta, you know that right?" Maggie's voice was small and it wavered slightly. The offer had been a heavy weight that suddenly dropped on Beth's shoulders. She couldn't leave the farm, Hershel couldn't be left in charge of it when he could barely take care of himself. No, this job was up to her.

"I know. I want to stay at home. I need to finish school." It was an excuse but it was true, she was currently in her final year and after that she would go to college. Further education was something she had always wanted and not even her current situation would stop her from going after it.

Beth continued making her dinner as she listened to Maggie talk about her life in the big city. She rambled on about her new boyfriend, Glenn, and how sweet he was. This made Beth smile, she was so happy and deserved every bit of it.

The call ended with a promise that another one would happen soon. Then Beth poured her vegetable soups into a bowl and ate it quickly, she was starving and the warm food was more than satisfying.

After cleaning up she headed up stairs and thanked the lord that she hadn't been given any homework. Tiredness had set into her body and it ached as she collapsed onto her bed. She barely had anytime to strip herself of clothing before sleep overcame her.


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

It was the sun peeking through her curtains that woke Beth the next morning. She had forgotten to close them so it was the sunrise which had stirred her from her slumber. Moaning, she forced herself up and immediately pulled back on the clothes she had worn the evening before. The first thing she had to do today was chores on the farm.

The cool air of the morning seemed to wake her even more and she went about her tasks at a fast pace. Milking the cows was easy and she immediately put the liquid into a pasteuriser so it could purify the milk. She then decided to let both the cows and the chickens out into their respective areas, it would give them time to wonder and tire themselves out until she got home. The chicken feed was spread onto the floor with a plentiful quantity, she wanted them to have something to eat all day so she filled up their bowls. The cattle would have the grass so she left them.

After finishing with the farm she went to get ready for school. The shower felt amazing on her aching back, its spray were hard and it felt almost like a massage. The relaxation which it offered her didn't last long however and she remembered that she still had to go to school.

After pulling on clothes and forcing a bowl of cereal down her throat she rushed out the door, barely giving her father, who was still passed out on the couch, a second look. The drive was quick as it had to be since she was running late, and pulled into the first spot she could find.

Somehow she made it to her first lesson on time and the class went quickly. It was English with Ms Hubbard, she was pleasant with a gentle approach to teaching but the homework she assigned was always a heavy load. Today she was feeling especially generous and assigned the class a thousand word essay on their interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.

The next class was just as cruel and her Science teacher set them a research task on the value of stem cell research and what good it had done.

A break couldn't have come sooner and Beth spent the time at her locker. For some reason the allure of seeing her friends that she had once had had vanished. The only thing they could give her was sympathetic stares and awkward pats on the shoulder. They weren't the company she wanted to keep right now.

The time went quickly and Beth found herself stood outside her History room. She was early but only by a few minutes and other members of the class were also waiting. Her friend Eleanor had come to stand next to her and they began in polite conversation. It was rudely interrupted by Beth's new foe,

"Someone got dressed in the dark today." Rosie said with a voice full of malice, she glared at Beth who turned away in reply. She was in no mood to put up any fight and hoped that Rosie would go a little easier today. Her thoughts were disproved almost immediately,

"Ugh look at how disgusting she is, you can seem those rolls from over here." Beth turned bright red and tugged her top down as much as she could, she clutched her books tighter and took a glance at Eleanor who had turned away.

"Did you brush your hair today, Beth?" One of Rosie's group said and they all barked with laughter, even members of the class had chuckled and this made Beth feel ashamed. She remembered brushing her hair because there was a particular knot that had cause her some grief but she didn't have time to dry with the hairdryer and had let it dry naturally. It was currently tamed into a ponytail and she knew it looked as neat as normally did. However the insecurities crept up and she had to fight the urge to run a hand through it.

"Eleanor, you don't know this bum do you?" Beth's eyes widened, afraid they were about to start picking on her friend but they made it clear that they didn't say anything else to her apart from telling her that she should stay away. It was Eleanor, who surprised them when she replied with a quick comment,

"My mother always encouraged me to be nice to the help." This had all of them howling with laughter and Eleanor was brought into the group. The comment stung and it felt as though Beth had been slapped in the face, she couldn't believe a girl she had known since childhood could be so flaky. She had betrayed Beth and it was this that hurt more than anything.

The bell wrung out and Mr Dixon appeared, unlocking the door and held it open as his class filed in. He seemed to be in a particularly foul mood and spent most of the lesson writing information on the whiteboard for the class to write down. The time he spent with his back to the class gave lots of opportunities to do as they pleased, as long as they did it silently. Rosie exploited this time and spent it pulling Beth's hair and kicking her chair. It was a particularly strong tug which made her yelp in pain and Mr Dixon turned to her,

"Something to share Miss Greene," Beth shook her head and dropped her eyes to the desk, hoping to avoid Mr Dixon's harsh stare, "Well I suggest you be quiet then."

The girls laughed and he silenced them with the click of a finger before her turned back to the board and began scribbling more words onto it. The class went on much of the same but Beth was able to keep her voice controlled. She didn't want to face Mr Dixon's wrath if she didn't.

He didn't set the class any homework and Beth bolted from the room as soon as the bell rang. Rosie and her group didn't follow her like they had the day before and she let out a long breath. Finding the bathroom, she splashed some water over her face. The coldness snapped her from her low mood and she quickly moved onto her next lesson.

The rest of the day went quite quickly, mainly because Beth kept moving. She didn't want to be caught by Rosie and luckily she wasn't. Lunch was spent in her truck and she enjoyed the solace. Home time came quick and she drove home lost in thought, she hadn't really been bullied before and she didn't know anyone who had either. Their words had been cutting and they had left her wounded.

The animals were still out when she got home and it was hard rounding them up back into their rightful places. It had taken three hours to do the rest of the farm chores and immediately, once she had finished, she began her homework. The night had set in before she knew it and Beth was surprised that, when she had finished her English essay, it was already past 11o'clock.

With an empty belly she curled up in bed and hugged her pillow tight. Just like the night before, sleep came quickly but this time it was filled with horror filled nightmares of her family's death.

The rest of the week went by much the same as that day had, slow in some places and fast in others. The weekend looked to be something she would welcome but those days were when the farm would sell their weeks produce to their neighbours, Otis and Patricia, who would use them in their bakery in town. They had taken a break from doing this after Annette and Shawn's death but with school beginning again Hershel had pre agreed this to be the restart up time.

Beth knew what to do when it came to this. She and Shawn, as well as Maggie before she left for college, had helped their daddy work through this every Saturday since she was 12. Doing this had meant that she would receive extra pocket money and it was easy as well as being a nice thing to do to be able to spend time with her male family members.

It was only the latter days of the week's milk that would be sold and she spent the whole of Saturday morning bottling the milk she had gathered and sealing them with a metal lid. The eggs were placed into cardboard containers and by the end of it she had 5 boxes of 6 eggs and 15 glass bottles of milk, which equalled the amount that could fit into their crate.

"Your father not feeling well today?" Otis asked as he loaded the truck with milk bottles and crates of eggs. He was a polite man who Beth had met before on many occasions as he had been good friends with Hershel since she was a child.

"Been working himself raw, thought I would give him a break." Beth replied with a smile as Otis handed over a small collection of green bills. He nodded and slipped an extra bank note from the pile and placed it into Beth's jacket pocket,

"Such a nice girl," Beth accepted the money with a surprised look and he chuckled, "For your hard work." She thanked him once, twice, maybe even three times before he climbed back into his truck and drove off. She watched him go and an extreme amount of gratitude for his actions. He didn't have to do that but he did and she made a note to be extra nice to him if she ever saw him around.

The day was still young but Beth had already planned on going grocery shopping with the money she received. The house was virtually out of food and she felt slightly lightheaded from not having any food since the night before and even then it was some scrabbled egg.

Things didn't go to plan because as soon as Beth stepped onto the front porch Hershel had stepped out of the house and blocked her path to get inside. He looked down his nose at her, eyeing her up as though she was nothing. Beth recoiled at his gaze and held onto the money with a tensed grip.

"Give me the money," He said and Beth shook her head before she began to tell him her plans for it, "I don't want to hear it, it's my money." He hissed and he advanced on her as though it was something he did every day. Beth reacted with panic and hid the money behind her back, defiantly trying to keep it as far from him as she possible could. He began cursing at her, trying to reach around for the money but she was able to keep it just out of his reach.

"God damn it, girl!" he suddenly shouted, his backhand slamming across her face like a belt on skin. She fell to the floor, the pure force of the blow causing her to land flat. Beth looked up at him with complete shock, he had just hit her! Never before had Hershel ever struck her yet here he was, stood over her with a wild look in his eye.

The money had fallen from her grip and Hershel picked it up as he stepped over her and walked towards his car. He didn't give a look back and Beth watched him drive down the driveway and disappear off the farm.

Her head had never been in so much pain and she clutched her cheek with a hovering touch, trying not to catch it as it was tender. It would bruise, Beth could already tell as she stared into the bathroom mirror. The large red mark, which her once loving and caring father had given her, dominated her right cheek and it throbbed painfully.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'd like to give a warning for this chapter, it gets very dark. You have been warned. On a lighter note I'd like to say thank you to those who have sent me reviews, each one made me smile.**

**Thank you for your continued support and I'll get the next chapter up ASAP.**

Chapter 3

Beth examined the large purple bruise the next morning. She tried in vain to cover it up with foundation but it was just too painful and it barely made a difference anyway. Sighing, she washed the layer of makeup from her face before leaving the bathroom. She would just have to brave the stares today.

The bruise had caused a second bout of rumours to circulate the school and they all thought that she had gotten in a fight with Rosie and had lost. This version of events seemed to create some sort of buzz and everyone kept on asking her questions about it, where it had happened, what Beth had done to provoke it. She tried to ignore them but when she heard that Rosie was encouraging the rumour Beth had to take a moment to consider it. They didn't suspect her daddy of hurting her and she didn't want them to know that truth, god knows what would happen if everyone found out about that.

"Yes." Beth replied to a girl who had asked whether she had been in a fight with Rosie. This would make the story concrete and no one would doubt her words. It was probably a bad idea and no doubt it would come back and bite her in the bum but right now she wanted to stop the questions. She wanted a few moments to herself.

The day ended with Beth feeling extremely nauseous. She hadn't eaten a proper meal since Friday of last week and her stomach grumbled in protest. Looking through the kitchen cupboards, she found nothing to sedate her hunger. The only thing they seemed to hold were newly bought bottles of alcohol. This made her angry. Was she supposed to starve whilst Hershel drunk himself to death?

An idea formed in Beth's head and it was through blind rage that made her carry it through. Before she knew it she was pouring the liquid from the bottles down the sink. The last one was the hardest to do and the collection of liqueur bottles sat together on the counter.

The adrenaline that was pumping through her body was cut short when she locked eyes her daddy who was stood in the kitchens entrance way. His face reflected the shock that he felt but it was overridden by something stronger, something that made Beth's heart beat in her ears. She watched as his whole body began to shake with rage, his face turned a dark shade of red.

Hershel was livid and he lunged at her before she could make an attempt to getaway. His fist connected with her face and she was flung back against the counter, bringing the bottles to the floor with her. They smashed loudly against the tiled floor and Beth landed on top of the glass fragments. She didn't have time to move away as Hershel had straddled her lap and began punching her. Each blow caused her vision to become clouded with a fusion of stars until she let it take her, falling unconscious.

Beth woke a few hours later. The sun had faded and the darkness cloaked the room, the only light was the moons glow and it had cast a dim light through the windows.

The pain was indescribable, nothing she had ever felt before could compare to the pure agony she felt now. Not only was her head throbbing excruciatingly but the face that this had been caused by her father had made her heart ache. Looking back on her actions, she could see why he had snapped. It was stupid of her to take away an alcoholics stash especially since he had already been violent towards her. Beth shook her head, this wasn't her fault. Nothing could excuse his actions.

The house was silent and Beth decided that it would be best to get herself cleaned up and not go looking for trouble. She had to force her body to respond as it was refusing to cooperate. Her vision blurred and her head began to spin and she eventually managed to stand.

Whilst leaning heavily on anything she could get her hands on Beth limped into the bathroom and had to look away from the injuries on her face. It was swollen and stuck out in an almost unnatural way. Her cheeks were large and puffy and her forehead had a large gash on and the blood had soaked and coated in her hair. Her eyes had already begun to swell shut and she could barely see through them, they especially hurt and she had to resist an urge to touch them.

The falling bottles had caused some damage too, there were large collection of cuts on her neck and arms. Some of them deep and still had pieces of glasses in them. Beth had to resist a shudder as she shakily pulled the green pieces of crystal from her wounds. They began to bleed again and the blood streamed down her arm in an almost sickly red comparison to her white skin.

She wanted to turn it all off, it hurt so much that Beth could barely breathe without causing another wave of nausea hit her. Moving quickly, her body collapsed against the toilet and she emptied the contents of her stomach. Looking down into the porcelain bowl to her horror she could see blood mixed in with her sick. She blacked out again soon after that.

Her face would go down eventually but Beth knew that going to school would raise too many questions from her peers. Staying at home was the best course of action and she was happy to see her father had stayed away from the farm. Beth hadn't seen him since that night but she sometimes heard him stumbling around the house when she was trying to get to sleep.

Beth lived off the food which the farm gave her. The eggs, milk, vegetables and even some apples from the trees had kept her alive and she rationed the food as much as she could. Most of it went to waste anyway because she couldn't keep it down and would end up spewing her guts out.

The farm had become her main priority and she spent every day in the fields. The cattle pens would needed mucking out and the chicken coup needed cleaning, the vegetable garden also needed weeding and the fields of wheat needed sprayed with pesticide. She more than had her hands full and school completely slipped her mind.

Otis had questioned her injuries but she had blamed it on the animas, mumbling something about one of the cows kicking her in the face. He hadn't believed her but he kept his question to himself. She was glad for that and was glad for this and he gave her an extra bit of money again.

Beth left the small bundle of money on the coffee table in front of her sleeping father. She didn't want to wake him or cause him any anger but she hated having to tip toe around him. What else could she do though? Any attempts to confront him had caused him to become so angry that he stormed out.

School had phoned up a few times and Beth fed them an excuse of being ill due to an infection caught from drinking unpasteurized cow's milk. They had been wished her better and sent her work to do to catch up on. Every one of her subjects sent her large booklets of worksheets and they were each as tedious as milking a cow. It took her two weeks to realise that she hadn't been sent any history word but she decided not to enquire and risk getting even more stuff to do.

By the time the swelling on her face had down it was a week before Thanksgiving and she decided to wait until after the holiday to go back to school. It would mark 2 months since she had last been at school and she felt a pang of guilt, this was her last year of school and this could possible set her back.

Thanksgiving was spent collecting apples from the apple trees in the garden. There were more than a sacks worth and Beth wracked her brain for something to do with it. She decided to sell them and ended up driving a town over so that no one would recognise her. The sack had sold for a couple of dollars but Beth was happy with that, any bit of cash would go far and she spent it, along with the money Otis had given her, on fuel for her truck.

Going back to school was making her anxious and Beth ran her hand through her hair, tugging on it. Deciding to return after thanksgiving meant that she would only have Friday but even that made her heart beat faster. This turned out to be an overreaction though and everyone seemed to have forgotten her, well apart from the teachers who had accepted the completed pieces of work they had sent her with a smile. That was until she entered Mr Dixon's classroom and he greeted her with a scowl.

"See me after class." Was all he said and Beth gave him a wary look but he ignored this and got on with teaching. As she sat through his lesson she realised that she had missed a large amount of work. They had already moved on from slavery, the last topic that she remembered doing, and had begun the civil war.

Beth approached Mr Dixon's desk once the last person had left the classroom and he looked up from his chair at her, he was leaning back in it and had his feet resting on the desk. Beth looked anywhere but him, and she felt a blush creep onto her cheeks as he began lecturing her.

"You've missed so much work," he began, "If it were anyone else I would kick them off this course and they would have to learn as much as they could from the books in the library." Beth flinched and tears prickled in her eyes, History was her favourite lesson and she had long ago decided that it would be something she wanted to carry on and study at college. Taking a shaky breath she nodded her head, it was her fault that she had missed his classes.

"But you aren't anyone else," Her head shot up and she locked eyes with his, they were a piercing blue and she felt floored by their intensity. Mr Dixon sat up, his feet dropped down and he leaned forward on his desk with his hands clasped together in front of him.

"You are one of my best students and I've decided to give you extra tutoring so you can catch up on the work," He pulled out a pile of books from his draws and set them down on the desk in front of Beth. She looked at them briefly, counting four of them, before looking back up to him. "You'll need these books and I want you to take a look through them over the weekend. Lessons will be two hours long and they'll start on Monday after school."

Beth took the books in her hand and flicked through them and then slid them into her bag. The idea of having extra lessons after school was nice but it wasn't very practical for her. Tending the farm already made her bedtime long after dark and she would barely have time for homework never mind making herself some dinner.

"You not want these lessons?" Mr Dixon asked sensing her hesitation and she looked at him with the second wary gaze of the day. He felt her unwillingness and he sighed, "We can split the lessons, half an hour at lunch and an hour after school. Does that sound better?"

If she was being honest, it didn't but she nodded her head in agreement anyway, giving him a small smile. He was after all trying to help Beth and she would be damned if she wasn't going to accept it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Massive thank you to everyone who's been reviewing! I can't believe the wonderful messages you send!**

** I would just like to point out that this chapter is even darker than the previous one and it may be upsetting to some of you. I was very anxious about posting this particular chapter but I promise you this is here for a reason. I'm building up to something that hopefully will pay off in terms of the narrative.**

**It's only a short chapter but I promise I will make it up to you tomorrow.**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 4

The lessons filled with awkward moments for Beth and she couldn't remember a time which she had blushed more than she had then. Mr Dixon was cool, calm and collected as always and ignored her fumbling and shuffling.

The lunchtime had been spent trying not to let her stomach growl as he ate one of his sandwiches. If he had heard it he didn't mention anything. The afterschool lesson was better, once she had eaten her lunch of apple slices, and she could concentrate more on what he was saying.

"Ima give you an essay on what we've just been over, can you have it done for me by tomorrow?" Beth nodded as she packed her things away in her backpack. It wasn't easy said as done but she would find a way to fit writing the essay in even if it meant staying up half the night.

"Thank you Mr Dixon, have a nice night." She said as she left the classroom and he responded with a grunt. The hallways where empty and she wandered through them allowing her mind to disconnect and she absent-mindedly made her way out into the car park.

The drive home was and her head was buzzing with what she had learnt in her extra history lessons. Her mind went back to lunchtime and she felt her face hear up as she remembered a particularly loud growl that her stomach had made.

The cattle were still out when Beth got home and she spent an hour rounding them up and piling hay up in their pens. The chickens were a little better behaved and it only took a few minutes to get them back into their little house.

Beth sat down at the kitchen table and got to work on her essay. She had been planning it in her head and it was easy to write it out. With her undivided concentration on her work she didn't hear Hershel come in until he had sat down on the table across from her.

She had been avoiding him for the last couple of weeks and he, in return, had stayed out of her way. Beth had noticed that he wasn't drinking as much and she hoped that he was on the verge on enlightenment, he had to be. Becoming intoxicated wouldn't solve your problems, only temporarily push them away.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, his face masked from emotion. This made Beth slightly hesitant but she nodded and he gave a short nod before he got up and began moving around the kitchen, getting to work by fixing them something to eat.

Every now and then she would look up and stare at her father's back. What had come over him so suddenly? She couldn't smell booze on him and she wondered whether or not he had drunk any today. He made her a cup of tea and she drank it appreciatively.

Her essay was finished by the time Hershel began to ladle the vegetable stir fry into bowls. Beth quickly cleaned her things away and had just placed her bag onto the floor when her daddy placed the bowl in front of her, holding out a spoon which she took with a small 'thank you'.

They ate in silence and every now and then she could see him look up at her. Beth didn't know what to do or what to say and it seemed that neither did he. They finished and Hershel cleaned the plates away. She dismissed herself quietly and she expected him to stop her but he didn't.

It was 10:50pm when she curled up in bed and Beth began to reflect on Hershel's actions. He had been kind and it was the first time he had made her dinner since before the crash. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf, maybe this would be the start of getting back to the normal Hershel, the man whom she recognised as her father.

Beth woke a few hours later to the sound of heavy breathing, the stench of alcohol made its way up her nostrils and she had to stop herself from gaging. Other than the breathing, the noise of skin rubbing together could be heard and in her state of haze she didn't quite realise what it was.

Turning over in bed she froze, her whole body going ridged, as her eyes landed on her father's form through the dark room. Hershel stood at the end of her bed with his trousers open at the top. She whimpered, her whole body curling up instinctively as she covered her ears with her hands. He didn't seem to notice her having awoken and carried up pleasuring himself.

No matter how hard she pressed or what else she tried to concentrate on all she could hear was her father's heavy breathing. He soon finished and grunted loudly. He tucked himself away and stumbled from the room. Beth just lay in bed, afraid to go to sleep, too afraid to close her eyes. The man she called her father had just crossed a line of no return and Beth wasn't sure she'd be able to stop him if things became worse.


	5. Chapter 5

**I should have posted this yesterday but I had the flu. I'm feeling much better now though.**

**A quick note about this story, I know everyone is waiting for the whole Daryl/Beth relationship to really take flight, and it will but I beg you to be patient. It will happen though, I promise you and when it does it will sparkle like Norman Reedus's beautiful blue eyes.**

**Another quick note. I posted this story and got a very lovely review from Lala who pointed out that the end of the previous chapter wasn't very clear on what exactly happened. I've rewritten it and re-posted, which may be the reason why some of you got two emails informing you that chapter 4 had been posted. I apologies for any confusion it may have caused.**

**Thank you for you continued support and I hope you like this chapter!**

Chapter 5

When she did eventually dropped off, her sleep was marred by nightmares. They were so dark and twisted that Beth found herself waking with her heart beating erratically and a thick layer of sweat covering her body. The theme of the nightmare was directly linked to what had happened the night before. She didn't want to think about it. She refused to think about it anymore.

Her morning routine was finished in a record pace. Beth wouldn't spend more time than necessary in that house. The memories that linked to it made her skin crawl and she shivered involuntarily.

The sight of school seemed like heaven as she drove down the road towards it. She was a little earlier than normal but the car park still had students in and she pulled in. Taking a few moments to collect herself she climbed out from and made her way into school.

The hallways began to fill as she spent the time before class looking in her locker. Having food at school became a hard thing to come by. She normally brought something with her but in her rush to get out she had forgotten. She never had enough money to buy anything but looking in her wallet she found she had more money than she had thought. Perhaps lunch would happen today.

The lessons went by slowly and Beth found herself counting the minutes till lunch. Maybe it was because she had sat next to boys all day, they held a silent threat and, even though Beth knew that sounded stupid, she couldn't trust them. The night before kept on replaying in the back of her mind and she felt cornered by it. No matter what happened from now on she would never be the same.

The bell rang for lunchtime and Beth gave a sigh of relief, her stomach growling. As she walked into the cafeteria her eyes caught sight of today's menu and she smiled, today was pizza day.

The food went down delightfully and it tasted like liquid gold in her mouth. The combination of having warm bread, tomato and melted cheese was a luxury she hadn't had in a long time. The meal was savoured and Beth was sure she had caught a few eyes staring at her as she ate so slowly. It probably looked weird to them but she didn't care about that anymore, she had already gained the reputation of an outcast. What else could they do to her?

The rest of the day went quickly and as she walked to her last lesson a realisation hit her between the eyes; she had forgotten to go to Mr Dixon's extra lesson. She slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead, he would be angry and Beth wasn't sure whether she could take that. He had been kind to her and she had let him down. The thought caused her heart to sink. Maybe he would understand. Or maybe he would refuse to teach her anymore.

Between tending the farm and anything else that was put on her plate Beth was absolutely exhausted, it didn't help that she had had a bad night of sleep, but it took until that exact moment for it to set in. A massive weight dropped onto her shoulders, shackling her to the floor, as she stopped in the corridor. She stumbled and fell to her knees and the whole world crashed around her whilst her whole body began to tremble. It took a few moments to gather her surroundings and when she did she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she was face with a pair of piercing blue eyes.

"You alright Beth?" he asked and the words floated to her ear, sounding quiet compared to the louder sounds in the corridor. Her vision blurred and she fell forward, her arms catching her before she could fall. Beth heard the voice again but she couldn't make out the words or control her mouth enough to reply. She felt her body being lifted and turned in the person's arms and by this time she could no longer hear anything. Her vision blurred further until she could barely make out the check shirt that she had her cheek pressed against.

Beth woke a while later and it took a minute for everything to come back. She had passed out and was currently laid out on the school nurses bed. Her stomach turned violently and she began to gag, shooting up a bucket was placed in her arms and she spewed up her lunch. A hand began rubbing the bottom of her back and all she could do was concentrate on it in a bid to stop the dry heaving.

"We've phoned your dad and he's coming to take you home." The hand disappeared and she looked up to see the nurse smiling down at her. Beth felt a little disappointed that Mr Dixon hadn't been there but she knew he would probably be teaching, taking a glance up at the clock confirmed this theory. It would have been her class with him now.

Hershel knocked on the door only half an hour later, and he stepped inside with a worried look on his face. The events of the night before flashed in her mind and she looked away sharply, hoping not to catch his eyes. When she saw he wasn't looking Beth took him in and guessed that maybe the look was genuine. He didn't seem to be drunk but the coffee cup in his hand suggested that he was trying to sober himself but that didn't necessary mean that he didn't care.

Beth signed as she leant forward and pressed her face into her hands. When had her world become like this? Why couldn't she go back to her time when her father's love was pure and her mother and brother were still alive? Why couldn't she just go back to having it easy and why didn't notice that her whole world had stopped turning? Didn't they realise how much hurt she was in and how much she was going through? Surely someone saw her?

The memory of her mother flashed in her mind and Beth smiled as she relived it, Easter morning, searching for eggs on the farm with Maggie and Shawn. How fun that day had been. If only she knew then what she did now.

Her new life was like swimming in a river with a pocket full of stones, never comfortable and constantly life threatening as she tried to keep her head above water. One day the collection of rocks would become too much for her to handle and she would sink to the riverbed.

Hershel spoke with the nurse for a few moments before he led Beth out. They walked in silence down the hallway and she kept as far away from him as possible. He mirrored her actions and they made it out into the car park within a minute or so. He held the door open for her and she slid by him and into the car.

As he drove them out of the school Beth was surprised to see him turn the opposite way from home. Sitting up she pointed this out to him in a panicked tone,

"We need some groceries." Was his reply and he pulled into the local market and went inside. Beth stayed in the car and, no more than forty five minutes later, he came out with a trolley full of bags. She didn't help him pack the bags away in the car but she let out a breath as he pulled out and began the drive back home.

Beth left him to pack the stuff away. She had glances over into back and noticed at least one of the bags were full of liquor and she felt extremely frustrated. Leaving him to be alone was the best thing to do. She didn't want to aggravate him.

Lying out on her bed, she let gulped in large breaths of air before letting them out slowly. Her head began to spin and she tried to level it out with her breathing technique. It seemed to work because soon she fell asleep.

Beth went to school the next day and the rest of the week went quickly. Mr Dixon didn't bring up her passing out incident and she attended his lessons as previously agreed. Even though she was disappointed by his lack of worry, Beth tried to not let it get to her and pushed it out of her mind. Rosie and her clan were back with full force and they showed they had no mercy when it came to cruel games. Most of the things they said felt like a nail being jammed into her heart but it wasn't as bad as Hershel. He had continued drinking and was now more often drunk then he was sober. He hadn't done anything like he had before but Beth could see the rage that was building up inside him. Every move she made around the house was carefully planned out, even something as small as venturing out of her room to use the toilet. She was walking on egg shells desperately hoping not to trigger him. Beth eventually found herself hoping her would snap, at least then she knew he had let off a little bit of steam but right now he was like a pressure cook, ready to blow at any moment.

The days fell into a routine and between the farm work, school and Hershel she had been left drained beyond anything else. For the first time in her life she had craved time and any spare moment was spent with her eyes closed, trying, but not succeeding, to find tranquillity.

Maggie had begun calling more and more often and Beth had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. Her older sister asked so many questions and Beth wanted so desperately to answer them truthfully, to have someone to confide in but Maggie would have up and took her away from this place and that wasn't something she wanted. She still had her duties to carry out.

"Do you know the real reason why most Northern soldiers fought?" Mr Dixon asked and Beth looked up from her desk at him,

"To abolish slavery?" she replied and he gave her a small smirk before shaking his head, Beth blushed at answering incorrectly. The first time doing so since their afterschool lesson had started over forty minutes ago.

"The Northerners motivation was to preserve the Union, not abolish slavery." Mr Dixon watched as Beth tilted her head to the side, staring at him blankly for a second before she began scribbling down the answer in her notepad. She had been doing that a lot this lesson and he could tell she was distracted. It was rare this year to have her undivided attention when in contrast last year it was all he ever had from her.

"Let's call it a day." He said and Beth blinked before nodding and began to put her stuff away. Mr Dixon watched her for a short amount of time before he began putting his own things away having decided that he would go home after this.

"Have a good weekend." Beth stood and walked out the classroom and he replied with the same word. He stared the door for a few seconds after she left and couldn't help but think about how much of a sweet kid she was. Never spoke back, did the work when asked, even with whatever was going on at home. Mr Dixon wasn't blind, especially having lived through his own rough childhood; he saw the signs that things weren't good.

He shook free from his thoughts and grabbed his things. Turning off the light, he shut the door to his classroom and walked down the empty corridor. As he descended on the exit into the car park he saw that it was raining and lifted his bag over his head as he rushed out to his car.

Whilst pulling out he could barely see through the rain on his windshield. As his wipers washed away some of the water he noticed a figure stud next to a truck by the car parks exit. On closer inspection he could make out the figure to be Beth and that the truck was very much tilted to one side.

"You alright?" he shouted out the passengers window from the driver's side, Beth turned to him and came forward. She was completely drenched and as the rain continued to pour he could see the chattering of her teeth,

"I have a flat tyre." She said and he motioned her to get in. Beth hesitated, looking back and forth from Mr Dixon's car and her truck. It wasn't really appropriate to be getting into a teachers car but she didn't really have any other option. She couldn't exactly phone up her dad to come pick her up and she wouldn't be able to afford a taxi. Beth cursed and climbed into the car.

After telling him her address they rode in silence for a while. It was Beth, who broke it,

"I really appreciate you helping me with my work, you didn't have to." Mr Dixon shrugged his shoulders, shooting her a smile,

"It's my pleasure; if the brainiest kid in the year fails your lesson then that'd look bad on me." Beth blushed at his compliment and she sighed, looking out the window.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about my truck, I don't have any money to pay for repairs." Mr Dixon considered her words for a few seconds and made a split decision. Beth was a good kid and he would help out,

"Listen," he began and Beth turned to him, "My brother owns a garage on the other side of town, Merles Garage. Why don't I give him a call and he'll get it fixed up for you." She looked at him with a wide surprised stare,

"He owes me a favour so you don't need to worry about paying. Just come and pick it up tomorrow." Mr Dixon waved off her 'thanks' with a hand gesture. She was taken aback by his other, having become so used to people being cruel. It was a pleasant feeling and it created heat in her belly. Even with the rain soaked through to her skin, she felt oddly warm.

Mr Dixon pulled up the driveway and Beth became stiff as he pulled up outside. She turned to him before getting out and he looked at her expectantly,

"Thank you." She whispered before she climbed out the car and shut the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**It took me a while to write this chapter, mainly because I was procrastinating it a little but I have no idea why. When I finished it though I felt proud, again I have no idea why.**

**Daryl and Merle are a little OCC but that will be explained in a later chapter. Also I'd just like to add, I'm English so if there are inaccuracies anywhere in this story, e.g. accents, description of things, names that have different semantic means, please forgive them.**

**I thank each and every one of you for your lovely messages and I shall leave you with this: Reviews are like finding you have another sweet left in the packet after you thought you had finished the last one.**

**P.S. I'll update with another chapter later on today if you shower me with affection ;)**

**Love you xx**

Chapter 6

Beth wrung her hands together as she made her way around down the street she was on for the tenth or eleventh time, the route led her around the town and eventually back to where she had started. When she got to the beginning she would stop and look down a street which led to 'Merle's Garage' and every time she did this she would build up the strength to follow through and collect her car but then a wave up nerves would hit her and she would end up taking another walk around the town centre.

She looked down at her watch and saw that she had been out for over an hour already, it was 2:48pm and Beth knew the garage would most certainly be open by now. It would have been open when she had set off early that morning, having to walk from her farm into town, but had misinterpreted how little amount of time it would take her to reach her destination and got where she was now ahead of schedule. She didn't want to show up at the garage and have Merle tell her he knew nothing of the arrangement that his brother had made. She didn't have the money to pay him so if this happened she would be in quite a predicament.

Stopping at the start point, Beth looked down the street and took a deep breath, summoning whatever courage she had, moving one foot in front of the other and made her way towards the workshop. The walk was quick and when the building appeared all the strength vanished and the want of abandoning this situation grew. Then suddenly a thought popped into her head and Beth couldn't help but laugh. All she was doing was going to collect her car from her teacher's brother's garage after it needed flat tyre fixing, what was there to be afraid of?

With a new found confidence Beth walked up the driveway, looking into the large openings which exposed the dated looking insides, and as she did so an unfamiliar looking man caught her approaching and pulled his head out from the car he was working on. Every step he took towards her made her heart beat a fraction louder until they were only a few feet away and Beth thought it was going to burst from her chest. He gave her a once over before he stopped and pulled a rag out from his back pocket and began wiping his hands on it.

"My my, what a fine lookin' thing we have here," he said in a long drawl and Beth felt her face heat up, her eyes darting to the floor. The man ignored her discomfort, "Now when we get good lookin' women like yourself, she's either a cop or she's lookin' for my little brother. Now, which one are you?"

Beth took a glance at the man and opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. She tried again but still her voice box refused to cooperate. Feeling like a goldfish she shut her mouth and dropped her gaze to the floor, feeling like a complete and utter fool.

"C'mon now little lady, no need to come on ol' shy or nothin'." he took a step forward and she took one back. Hearing his sigh made her fists clench at her side, she didn't know this man and she didn't know what kind of person he was. Her fight or flight instinct began to take over and Beth began taking glances to see if she could run back the way she had come. Everything became too much and she began to panic, her breathing becoming quicker.

"Beth." A voice called out and she looked up and her body filled with relief as she laid eyes on Mr Dixon as he came jogging over. The man greeted him with a nod but her teacher scowled in reply as he looked at the current state of distress his pupil was in.

"What'd you do?" he asked in anger as he put a hand on Beth's shoulder for comfort as he turned back to his older brother.

"I didn't do anything, just talkin' is all. She just began getting' all anxious and flustered," he gave out a chuckle before he punched Mr Dixon on the shoulder, "I do have that effect on women."

Mr Dixon rolled his eyes as he led Beth into the garage. Her mind had caught back up with her and her breathing had gone back to normal. The red tint on cheek remained though, she felt embarrassed by her obvious overreacting to meeting a stranger who obviously meant her no harm. Especially now she knew that he wasn't a stranger, well not really, as he was Mr Dixon's brother, Merle, who owned the place. She didn't look at either of the men as she was led into some type of office in the back of the building. Looking around she couldn't see many personal touches and everything looked rather professional, like everything that should stereotypically be in a mechanic office was dotted around the place.

"I didn't get a chance to fix yer car yet girlie." He moved around the office and she heard the familiar hiss at the opening of a beer bottle. Her body immediately tensed and her eyes darted to the door before she forced herself to relax, after all Mr Dixon wouldn't allow any harm to come to his student would he?

"You want one?" Beth turned to see Merle offering her a bottle of beer but before she could say anything the beer was snatched from his hands and Mr Dixon gave his brother a glare.

"She's only 17 you…" Mr Dixon held off his cursing and gave Beth a quick glance before turning the cap of the bottle and took a swig from it. She observed this and watched the way his throat moved whilst he drank, completely intrigued by such an innocent movement.

"Then a can a can of cola then," he said as he lifted out of the fridge and gave her a look of annoyance when she shook her head, "you can't be the only one without a beverage, it'd look bad on me." He threw the can over and Mr Dixon caught it before she had the chance, he turned to his brother and they exchanged a heated glance, sharing a thousand words between that look. When Merle turned back to her he apologised, in his own way, and sat down at his desk. Mr Dixon gave her the can and pulled up a chair for her to sit on before grabbing his own and sat down next to her.

Beth looked at both men and felt nerves. It was like she was in the principal's office and she was about to be told off for doing something wrong. Her eyes widened as the brothers shared another look but this time it was one of knowing, as though they knew something she didn't.

"So like I said, yer car hasn't been fixed yet. It will be fixed but yer gunna have to wait for a bit while I sort out some other cars, but me and Daryl'll keep you company," Merle ran a hand over his shaven head and yeaned back in his chair, he gave Beth a wink, "Paying customers have to come first."

So Beth waited. Mr Dixon and Merle worked together on the cars all day and once Beth had grown bored of the office she ventured outside and sat on top of one of the work benches her teacher turned mechanic was using. She enjoyed listening to the squabbling brothers and their relationship intrigued her. They fought, almost incessantly, but there was a deep underlying connection between them that told Beth, no matter how bad it got, they would always have each other's back. It was almost like her and Maggie's relationship except that they got along most of the time.

She ended up spending a couple of hours with them and by the time they had gotten around to look at her car, it was close to closing time and she felt at ease in their company. Beth saw that the squabbling was actually more banter than anything and she loved hearing stories about Daryl's childhood. Mostly the reason for that was because he was always so guarded and she felt almost honoured by allowing her to see him in this way. Throughout out the time with them, Beth felt a nagging thought at the back of her head. Something felt almost suspicious of their treatment towards her and she became guarded. They didn't seem to notice though and never pried by asking her any questions, the brothers seemed to be trying to outdo one another in telling the most embarrassing story of the other but it was Beth who won in this situation and she relaxed. It was refreshing to be with them, to unwind a little and forget about her troubles at home.

"Can't see any damage," Merle said as he took a look over Beth's flat tyre before he looked back up at her, "Looks like someone might av' let the air outta them." Her cheeks flushed as the thought of Rosie, her bully, popped into her brain. Her head hung low as Merle got on with his task of putting air back into the tyres whilst she felt Mr Dixon's presence next to her. She looked up slightly and saw him leaning against the table against her with his arms folded. They locked eyes and she saw the intensity they held. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to, that look, his stance, told Beth everything she needed to know; he was there if she needed him.

Once her car was fixed Beth said her goodbyes and was surprised when Merle gave her a flamboyant handshake,

"Come back whenever you want, princess." He had said and Beth gave him a warm smile, he smirked back at her in return and she immediately thought that that was a family characteristic. Both Dixon brothers had signature smirks but they held a passing resemblance that told Beth it was learnt, perhaps their fathers had done the same?

She gave her thanks, almost every single word was the sincere word and they waved her off each time. That warm feeling, like the one she got when Otis gave her some money, came back but this was more intense. Not only had they mended her tyre but they had given her company and that had been something that Beth hadn't had in a long time.

As she drove back home she giggled at things that buzzed around in her head, they really were quite a unique pair of people and Beth wasn't sure when she'd be able to meet anyone two like that again. As she reflected her time at the garage Beth's mind kept on returning to Daryl, or Mr Dixon he had insisted she called him when she had left. He had looked different in his casual wear, not the button up shirt a d tie with a pair of trousers but she decided she liked him better in his out of work clothes, he looked more comfortable.

When Beth pulled up outside her house it was getting dark and the house had a spooky look to it that made her shudder. She had spent the day away from her problems but that hadn't stopped them going away, it was time to confront them and she didn't want to. Being in that workshop made Beth crave normalness it brought with it and she wanted nothing more than to step into that house with her Mother and Father sat at the kitchen table, waiting for her to return, a lecture on their lips. It wasn't going to be like that and she let out a long sigh.

Upon entering the house Beth was greeted by the sight of suitcases sat side by side next to the staircase. They didn't look very familiar and Beth had to wrack her brains to try and remember if they belonged to her family or not. She didn't have time to come up with an answer but her father answered it for her,

"I'm leaving Bethy." He said, his eyes sparkling with tearing. They overflowed and began streaming down his face at a rate that Beth hadn't seen since her deceased's family's funeral. The thought of him leaving made her feel almost triumphant, she wouldn't have to be afraid in her own house anymore, but at the same time she felt an overwhelming sense of grief and she realised that she was just a child, a child that needed a father, a child that didn't want to be alone.

"Please daddy… After everything you've done, please don't leave me." Beth had begged and he had tried to ignore her but his tears became harder to handle and he broke down into a sob. She watched him beg for forgiveness and, in all truth; Beth didn't know how to handle it. How could she be asking that of a man who had crossed the line between father and daughter, who had gone against the bible and had committed a burning in hell sin, to stay? Nothing made sense in her mind anymore and her response was to act like her age and she broke down in front of him, letting everything come out with her weeping.

They clutched onto each other and, for an hour at least, Beth felt immobile. She couldn't do anything but cry. Hershel wasn't much better but he managed to control himself a little and he pulled Beth over to their staircase and took a seat on the bottom step, sitting Beth down in his lap like he used to do when he was a child. One of his hands rested on her knee, squeezing it gently, whilst the other one kept her head under his chin as he stroked her hair.

"I have to leave," His words were soft and Beth felt them through the vibrations in his neck. She didn't argue with him this time and just listened to him as he spoke in a low, soothing tone, "I need to get some help, I'm sick. But I'll be back, Bethy. I'll be back and we can be family again. We can have the relationship we had before…" His words faltered but his actions didn't and he began humming her a lullaby.

Beth didn't remember falling asleep and as she recalled the previous day, her brain tricked her into thinking it was a dream. It wasn't until she went downstairs to see a note on the table beside the front door that everything suddenly became real and the cloud, which sleep had her floating on, had evaporated and she fell back down to earth.

Hershel was gone and she was alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's that second chapter! Two in one day, I didn't think I had it in me!**

**Please R&R!**

Chapter 7

The note hadn't said much, just wishing her luck and gave her the combination to the safe inside his and her mother's bedroom. Beth didn't go and check it and instead she went and collapsed on the couch. Her mind focused on anything other than her current situation and she noticed that the room look much cleaner then when she had last seen it. In fact the whole house looked tidier and Beth recalled the new set of sheets on her quilts.

A deep feeling of sorrow set inside her body and she let out a shaky breath. This is what it had come to, her alone in this house with no one but her to take care of the animals on farm. She let out a bitter laughter. She had been doing the farm work for months now. What did it matter now that her father had left? Quite a lot apparently as the weight of the world landed on her shoulders and Beth had felt this to be familiar. She had grown used to the expectations of her new world but there had always been hope for Hershel to snap back into his senses and would go back to being the overprotective father he was before. She had gotten her wish but downside to this was that he had decided to leave, for her own protection.

The house felt bigger now that she was the only occupant and Beth felt an overwhelming need to leave it. Instead she spent her time on the farm and let the animals problems become her own. They were the perfect distraction and Beth did everything that she could possible do before she settled on the steps of her porch. A chilly wind made Beth shiver as she looked out to the field in front of her, there was something peaceful about that view that made her feel a temporary sense of complete. Just for a second, every piece of the puzzle slotted together and her whole body tingled whilst the hair on the back of her neck stood up. An unexplainable measure of warmth washed over her the feeling designated in the pit of her stomach. It was a pleasant and almost unquenchable feeling that Beth didn't recognise at first but as time went by it felt more and more familiar. It took a while to fully click in her mind but it was courage she was feeling. The recognition sent a second wave of tingles over her body and her eyes dropped shut as she tried to revel in what she was feeling.

It was almost unusual but Beth suddenly felt up to whatever challenge that was put to her and her a few minutes, she felt invincible. The doubts in her mind had vanished and as she basked in the raising moonlight she allowed herself to feel content. She would allow herself this night to feel positive, God knew she deserved it after everything she had been through. Beth would face her problems tomorrow or maybe the day after, she didn't busy herself into thinking about the details because right now she wanted to just let go.

The high of that night was short lived and the next day brought about a large level of sadness and frustration, two of the cattle had died and Beth knew nothing about how it had happened. There was nothing to show signs of anything fatal, like an attack from the other cows or some kind of illness, she would have noticed it. So, not knowing what else to do, she somehow managed to hook the bodies onto one of her old saddles and then latched that onto two of the strongest cows in the herd. Then, with gentle easing, she guided the cows forward, dragging the carcass out of the barn and over to the front of the house. She did the same to the second one and stood in front of their bodies once the job was done. After checking them over one more time she decided that it was too much of a risk to sell them to a butcher, in case they were infected with something, and instead she walked into the house and called the local veterinarian, usually her father would have taken care of it but it would be someone from his practice that would have to come out and look at the cows.

Beth greeted the man with a nod of the head and she was glad to see him exchange the same look, no need for talking. The only topic that they could really discuss, apart from the cows, was her father and she wasn't sure whether she could answer questions about that right now. The man seemed to sense this and he held back all the questions that sat on the edge of his tongue.

"Looks like I'll need to cut her open and take a closer look," he said over his shoulder having just finished checking the cow for abrasions and other detections as to what had killed it. The other cow had the same amount of nothing and the vet opened his small case and pulled out a scalpel.

Beth looked away as he cut into the stomach and began poking around inside, the sound made her want to throw up but instead she covered her ears and looked to her house. Whatever the Dr had been looking for he had found it because he stood, an part of the cows insides in his hand, and approached Beth,

"There's been condemnation of the liver," he paused looking at Beth and began pointing at areas of the liver in his hands, pointing out the infected areas. She swallowed her bile and listened intently, "Looks to me like Liver Fluke."

The vet gave Beth a rundown as to what Liver Fluke was and she had never felt as much appreciation towards someone then she had felt when he had stopped talking. It wasn't that she didn't feel concerned about a possibly fatal infection which was brought on by something to do which snails but the smell and the sound of them poking through that cows, her cows, insides made her queasy. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and be transported back to the night before when everything had been okay. Now she was faced with the problem of her livestock being wiped out unless she could come up with the money to pay for the 'Flukicide' that was needed to help combat the damn illness. At the end of the day, money was all it came down to and Beth preyed that could come up with it in time.

The vet left after taking a look over the rest of the cattle and informed her that he saw signs that at least three thirds of the others had been infected. This information hadn't gone down well with her but the vet reassured her that death only happened on the rarest of occasions and the death of two of her cows was highly unusual. It didn't help soothe her and she spent the rest of the day collecting the houses valuables, planning on selling them to help fund the medication.

It was while she was looking through her mother's old jewellery box that the sight of her family's old safe caught her eye. With a moment of hesitation she rushed downstairs to grab the note her father had left her and scrambled to get back to the family's heirloom as though it would disappear at any moment. Turning the combination into the small black dial Beth smiled when she heard a click before giving a silent prayer that there was money inside. To her surprise, her prayers were answered and a few wads of notes were laid on top of a stack of papers.

Beth discovered there was more than three times as much money and immediately went to phone the vet. Before she could it began to ring and she answered it without a second thought,

"Beth?" the voice she recognised as her sister asked and Beth answered in the affirmative, she glanced up at the clock as saw it was close to the closing time at the vets. If she hung up now, she would have time to continuously call the vets office until it shut. The longer she stayed on the phone, the shorted that time would be,

"Look Maggie, now's not really the time-"

"I know... I just wanted you to be the first to know. Glenn proposed to me last week. We're engaged." The line stayed silent for a minute, "Beth?"

"That's great news." She finally replied before she ended the call and began to hastily type in the number for the vets, she got them on the fourth try.

It was agreed that the vet would come around tomorrow morning to give cattle the Flukicides. Beth worried about it less now she had found her way through the problem. It was good that the cows would be saved and she decided to spend some more time with them in the barn. It didn't register with Beth that, as the sun rose, it was Monday morning and that she should be going to school. She didn't remember school at all until the last diluted with water bottle had been drunk by the thirsty clouds and the vet had become too curious,

"Don't you have school today?" he asked and Beth just looked at him dumbly for a few moments before she pointed out that this was more important, which it was. The vet had just nodded and cleaned up before leaving.

She stayed with the cattle the whole day, only leaving to use that bathroom and to feed the chickens. It had been a long and stressful day and Beth was glad it was over. The Flukicide would cure the infection and cows would be fine, no more death and certainly no more needing to worry about them.

When she curled up in bed that night she reflected over the long weekend and she gave a long sigh, it had been up and down like a rollercoaster and Beth had never been fond of theme park rides. _Everything will be better tomorrow though_ was the last thought in her head as she fell asleep.

Her prediction had been wrong and the day started out in the most annoying way, she had somehow slept through her alarm and by the time she had woken up, school had already started. Instead of getting up to rush and try to get ready, Beth decided it was too late and stayed in bed a little longer. It was the sound of the mooing outside that reminded her of the farm duties and she climbed out of bed and tended to them. The second irritating thing of the day was that somehow the chickens had not only escaped from their houses but also the pen they were kept in as well. It took her more than an hour to try and find them all but even after she thought she had done so another chicken went plucking by and Beth had to sprint to catch it. The next thing was to find that her vegetable garden had become overrun by weeds and it took her hours to bring them up to scratch. Beth blamed herself for neglecting the plants but she still felt anger towards them in some way or another. When she had finished her garden duties, Beth went to shower and found that, for some unknown reason, the boiler was acting up so every now and then the hot water would turn freezing and each time she let out a squeal.

All these thing had distracted her from hearing the telephone ring. When Beth eventually picked up she expected Maggie to be on the other line and was surprised to hear the gruff voice of Mr Dixon,

"Why haven't you been at school?" she froze at the hard tone in his voice, feeling the anger, picturing the matching look in her mind. A handful of excuses came to mind but none seemed to be something that she could convey in a truthful kind of way. In the end, she decided to tell him a half truth,

"Some of my cattle were sick and I had to take care of them."

Beth heard the quiet string of curses he muttered before he gave the gruff order for her to be in attendance the next day. She didn't have time to reply because he had already hung up.


	8. Chapter 8

**(Lala I love you so much!)**

**Thank you for all your lovely messages! I know Chapter 7 was a bit boring but the shit is about to hit the fan - if you excuse the expression.**

Chapter 8

The minute Beth stepped out the next morning she was hit by a gust of cold wind that somehow managed its way through her layers and assaulted her skin like tiny needles. This wasn't the first sign that winter had crept in but it was the first one she had taken notice of. Over the past couple of weeks it had begun to grow cooler and rained on and off but it was this sudden drop in temperature that made Beth realise how fast time flew.

The grass seemed to sparkle in the morning light, the dew reflecting the weak rays of sun that had managed to peek through the clouds. It felt right to breath in that air and Beth swore it was fresher then than at any other point.

The morning work had been finished quickly and she had decided to keep the animals inside until she got back from school, not wanting them to risk them getting sick.

Beth was a little anxious for school and she had contemplated not going, after all what harm would another day off do? Then she remembered Mr Dixon and she felt an obligation to attend. So, sucking up whatever strength she had, Beth went to school. It was immediately apparent that she should've stayed at home. It was like that first day back after the summer holidays apart from the fact that she had no idea what they were gossiping about this time. This made her a little angry and she narrowed her eyes at anyone she caught staring.

The lessons were boring but in her forth class before lunch she overheard what all the talking was about. Apparently Hershel's 'disappearance' was the talk of the town, everyone was used to seeing him stumbling about with a bottle of beer in his hands and when he suddenly wasn't doing that, they had predicted the worst, they thought he had committed suicide. Beth had to stifle her laughter but at the same time feel a little worried about the way talk was twisted around the school corridors. That wasn't the only thing they thought, they spoke in low hushed tones that her daddy had been beating her. This had made Beth freeze and she had to fight back need to tell them to be quiet, that they didn't know anything. People were vultures who wanted nothing more than to torture each other so they could focus on anything that made their lives even just a little eventful. She used to be one of those who would soak up the falsified information but now her life had meaning, had purpose, and she didn't need to worry about what some stupid teenagers had to say.

It didn't seem to end with them though and as she entered Mr Dixon's classroom, for their lunch time lesson, the vice principle and Sherriff Grimes were inside speaking in quiet voices to her teacher who was sat at his desk. The two men stood up didn't seem to hear Beth enter but Daryl did and he cleared his throat, gesturing his head to the doorway when the men had look at him.

"Ah, Beth, do come in." Vice principle, Mr Martinez, stood straight and introduced her to the Sheriff,

"We have already met actually," Beth said giving each of the men a strong look, Mr Martinez just looked back at her with a questioning expression and she sighed, "He was the first person to arrive on scene of the traffic collision that killed my family."

Beth laughed as she recalled how scared she had been, how seeing him had given her such a massive relief that she wasn't dead too. Rick Grimes had been a friend of her daddy's before the accident but afterwards they had grown apart, just like all of Hershel's friends. Rick had been so kind to her and probably visited her in hospital more than anyone else, due this he had seen her cry and had been the one to console her on many occasions. Beth remembered the promise she had made him swear by as though it was yesterday. He hadn't fulfilled it yet and she wondered if he even remembered it.

"You found the person who killed mama and Shawn yet?" Rick's eyes softened at the question and he had to look away giving her all the answers he didn't need to tell. Sighing loudly, she dropped her bag and sat down at the desk she usually occupied when Mr Dixon was tutoring her and looked at him expectantly, he was shocked by this and sat forward at his desk.

"Listen Beth," Sherriff Grimes sat down at the table next to her and leaned over a little so he was close enough for her to feel it was serious but not enough to make her uncomfortable. Beth just stared forward, looking past her history teacher to the whiteboard. "There has been a lot of rumours going around school and they've become too serious to ignore. Do they hold any truths?"

"No." she replied without hesitation forcing the men in the room to question her answer. Each had their own experiences with young people trying to disguise something from them, whether it be missing homework, lying about taking drugs or even the odd denial of underage sexual activity. Lying was something they could each see through and it was this that made them the perfect team to investigate anything a student had managed to get themselves in to. Beth was lying or at least trying to hide the truth.

"Officer Walsh is at your house now," Beth looked at the cop with a sharp turn of the head, her eyes widening and her heart beginning to beat quicker, "We can't seem to find Hershel anywhere and we need to know whether what is being said is true."

Panic set in her shoulders and she began looking around the classroom. Even though she knew her actions looked incredibly incriminating, she couldn't seem to calm down. Memories of the past few months began to flash in her mind and the time she had woken to find her daddy in her bedroom played out. What if everyone knew what Hershel had done? What if everyone thought that she had wanted him to do it because she never told anyone about it? What if they thought she had killed him?

The night

"Beth-" she didn't hear anything the person said suddenly the questions in her mind grew louder. The loudness turned to shouting and then shouting into screaming. More voices joined in and they began a war of words that she couldn't control. Every demon that resided in her self conscious spoke up and suddenly they were winning. They were harsh and wanted her to end it all by permanently switching off her brain. Her voice was lost and she felt helpless to fight them.

Beth stood suddenly with her hands clasped over her ears as the voices in her mind had become too much. She didn't notice the tears streaming down her cheeks or the fact that her eyes were clenched shut. She did notice a pair of strong arms around her and she accepted the embrace with a defeated cry.

"He's gone," she said through muffled cries and it took a few moments for Beth to realise what he own words were implying. "He's hasn't died, he went to look for help." She managed to pull back just long enough to say what was needed before another sob wracked her body. Burying her head into Mr Dixon's chest she felt comforted by his gentle touch on her back.

Mr Martinez excused himself from the classroom well the bell rang to signify the end of lunch and directed people away from the classroom, telling them their lesson with Mr Dixon had been cancelled. The occupants inside could hear him but it was got that they weren't being rushed on such a sensitive issue.

Beth recounted a partly true, partly false, story to Sherriff Grime and Mr Dixon. She had sat back down at the desk and Mr Dixon had pulled up a chair in front of it. It was very calming to have him there even though he didn't look particularly comfortable with the topic. Beth wasn't sure why but she could identify with the pained expression on his face and what's more, she realised it wasn't only for her. He had his own demons to fight.

The talk had begun and ended with her speaking. She told Rick everything she felt he needed to know; he had been an alcoholic and had relapsed due to Annette and Shawn's deaths. Leaving out the abuse seemed automatic for Beth and she had never really contemplated telling anyone, well apart from Maggie but she was her sister and the need to tell was only to lighten the burden.

Sherriff Grimes had been extremely patient and never pushed her by asking questions, he must have thought that she was telling him everything so his job of interrogating had become irrelevant. Once Beth had finished he had patted her hand and asked whether she wanted him to file a missing persons report. This seemed silly especially since Hershel wasn't missing and had left on his own free will so she shook her head.

When he left an hour later, leaving her alone with Mr Dixon, she had time to fully reflect on what had happened. The police had been called because there had been a rumour that her daddy had killed himself. It seemed a little silly to her but everyone had noticed his behaviour, most likely noticed her behaviour and this had been added up, making them think that something serious was going on at home but they surely hadn't guessed correctly as to what that was as the cops had never visited to check things out. At least one person in the town would have reported it to the police if they thought that Hershel Greene was beating on his daughter.

"Did yer daddy give you that bruise?" Beth was snapped out of her thoughts and it took her a few moments to register what Mr Dixon had said. She looked at him with a questioning gaze and he repeated his question, making it clearer, "That bruise on your cheek near beginning of the school year, did yer daddy give you that?"

Beth stared at him with wide eyes and she stuttered for an answer. The knowing look was on his face when he had asked the question the first time so she knew no matter what she said he would believe that she was lying.

"And that time when you were off fer months, were becausa him?"

Again she just stared at him and again he looked back with that knowing look. She, in return, sat frozen in place, too petrified that one movement would cause him to make an automatic judgement even though, deep down, she knew he already had the answered to everything. He knew the answer to each of these questions and he was just making Beth aware how much information he did know.

"The day you passed out, what had bin the tipping point that caused it?" He had moved closer now, not allowing her to look away from him. He wanted to see what truth her eyes showed, he wanted to know once and for all what had caused someone who seemed so strong, to break like she had. "What happened the night before that made you look so haunted?"

The clock ticked loudly in the background and Beth used it to time how many beats per second her heart was going. The noise pounded in her ears and she had never been so sure of anything than she was about knowing that Mr Dixon could hear it too.

"What did he do to you Beth?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the next chapter. I won't be updating again until Wednesday.**

**Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 9

The bell echoed out around them and Beth stood, wanting to leave but Mr Dixon pulled her back down to her seat.

He was angered at her action but he kept it hidden and ran a hand through his hair, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to focus on keeping the blonde in front of him calm. The moment he looked back at Beth, seeing look of utter defeat on her features, he felt all his negative emotions leave, escaping his body like a breath. It wasn't right for him to pry and push her to answer just because he wanted to know. He, of all people, knew what it was like to harbour secret, one that would possible tear his family apart, but he also knew how freeing it was to finally tell it. He couldn't push her to say anything she didn't want to but he would make her see that it was okay and in time, she would learn to trust him, just like his teacher had done for him when he was Beth's age.

"This all began after the death of yer kin, didn't it?" she didn't look at him as he spoke but answered his question with the nod of her head. Daryl felt his eyelids suddenly grow heavy and he let them shut. An overwhelming sea of guilt washed over him and he could finally see what Beth was going through. She had been left in the unknowing, a void of darkness which held all the answers but would never reveal themselves, not unless someone exposed them. Her mother and brother had been killed, murdered, and the culprit had never been caught. She too had been in that car and Daryl tried to shake his head clear of the image of Beth waking up to find she was the only one left alive.

"Beth there's somethin' I have to tell-" Mr Martinez came back into the classroom with a brown folder in his hands, he gave Daryl an apologetic look sensing he had interrupted something but he continued with what had come back into the classroom for. Advancing towards them, he opened the folder and took a seat where Sherriff Grimes had sat before pulling out a pen.

"Since you're living alone, we're going to need to change it in your folder so everyone knows you're not going to be a hundred percent and can treat you accordingly." Beth was about to argue but understood that it needed to be done. She didn't want to be treated like a special case. She could guess that there were a handful of people that didn't live at home and attended school without them knowing. It wasn't illegal, she was 17 and the legal age to live alone was 16. Beth knew they were writing it down because of the possible threats that Hershel's drinking could cause if he came back and she couldn't exactly tell them that there was no use, that she had already become accustomed to the feel that the back of his hand caused, but she kept quiet. The overwhelming need to leave had taken over everything else.

As soon as Mr Martinez had finished with the files in the folder Beth had excused herself. She ignored the glare that Mr Dixon had given her and had to force herself not to spring out of the room and out of the school. Instead her movements looked robotic as she focused on almost every step, one at a time, but she didn't care how it looked to the two men that were watching her. Shutting the door behind her, she didn't need to peek through to feel his eyes burning into her.

Stepping out into the empty corridor outside was like stepping into an alternate reality, nothing seemed real and Beth felt herself question what had just occurred over the last few hours. A tinted bubble encased her and she felt numb as she walked out to her car and drove off. She didn't focus on the road and instead felt lost inside the fog of her own mind. It was thick with smoke and she couldn't see anything, she wasn't sure of anything anymore. All her security had been wiped out by that car accident and had resulted in Beth's world changing for the worse.

A bright sign caught her eye and she focused her attention on it and pulled into the adjoining car park which was already half full, unusual for a Wednesday afternoon.

"Jack's Tavern." She whispered its name and registered the semantics that it brought with it. This place was the dive bar that attracted what her mother had described as 'the bad eggs' of town. Its reputation was notorious for being rough and lots of fights had occurred here more often than not needing to be resolved by a police presents. It was also the only bar in town that would serve to underage drinkers though, if they dared to enter, and Beth was willing to do anything to prolong the numbness which had taken hold of her.

Looking down at her outfit Beth examined it for a few minutes; she had on a pair of jeans, black sandals, a cardigan and one of Maggie's old vest tops. She smirked as she examined it and realised it was one of the tops that she had seen her older sister sneaking out in when they were younger but the daring older Greene had worn it as a dress. She needed to convince not only those around her, but herself also, that she was of age to drink. Beth shimmied off her jeans and pulled the top lower down her thighs, it covered just enough and she felt okay with what it showed, it was tight and highlighted her figure in an almost silly way as it left little to the imagination. Pulling her purse from her bag, she used it as a clutch and tucked it under her armpit. Dropping down the overhead mirror from the ceiling, she let her hair down from its ponytail and ran her fingers through it to tame it slightly. Then, ruffling through the glove box, Beth found a few items of makeup, applying the eyeliner and mascara first before layering on a bit of lip gloss.

Looking at her reflection Beth could hardly see the person she had been a year ago, she looked her age when before she had looked so much younger. Her eyes closed briefly. That person definitely wouldn't be about to go drink her problems away like she was now nor would she step out in public dressed as, well, a slut. No. A slut was a preconceived notion made up by girls who were envious at the confidence the other female had. She felt empowered but this was brought on by her desire to follow in her father's footsteps. Drinking had been his solution and it was about to become hers.

Beth slammed the door to her truck shut and locked it before making her way toward the entrance. This place was a social house, much like any other bar, where people came and felt comfortable because they were with other people like them. For some reason Beth felt drawn in by it, or most certainly the idea of it, and stepped inside with a feeling of confidence.

Eyes found her immediately and some of the looks they were giving her made Beth queasy but she pushed it away. Fingering the strap of her 'dress' Beth held her head high and took long strides towards the bar and climbed onto the only stool that wasn't taken. The bar seemed to have grown a little quieter as they looked at her, almost sensing she was an outcast and waited for some indication that she was acceptable to be in the bar.

"What can I get you, ma'am?" The bartender asked and Beth immediately answered, ordering a double shot of vodka. When it was placed in front of her she downed it almost quickly before holding the glass out for another. The man behind the counter complied and whilst he turned to fill her drink again, Beth winced at the awful taste the vodka had brought. She drank the next one straight but when she asked for another someone spoke over her,

"Another two, Jack." The man said and Beth felt him slide in between her and the person on the stool to her right. She looked over at him and was surprised to see Merle. He gave her a smirk as he positioned himself a little closer to her as the chatter in the room picked up, accepting her presence. Using his left arm to lean against the counter with his body turned to her, he moved his head close enough so he could whisper in her ear.

"This ain't exactly the place for lil' ladies like yerself." Beth answered him by downing the two shots that were placed on the counter in front of her. He gave a chuckle and told Jack to leave them the bottle then, when the owner complied, he filled the glasses up again and held one out to her. Beth took it and he clinked them together before he drank it down in one mouthful, his eyes staying on Beth the whole time.

"My brother know yer here?" he asked and watched her tense at the mention of Daryl. She snatched the bottle from his grasp and took a swig from it. This made Merle thrown and he ran a hand over his shaved head before he leaned back a little. Something must have happened between the two of them but he didn't believe what he thought it was had happened so Merle would have to find out from Daryl. Looking over his shoulder towards the exit, he let out a sigh and watched her take another gulp of vodka, "Slow down their girlie, don't want to be doin' nothin' that y'all regret later."

Beth ignored him and drank the bottle until the last drop of it was trickling down her throat. She'd never been drunk before but she could feel the alcohol making its way into her system and she liked the way it felt. The numbness she had wanted to extend grew with every drink she took and she felt completely loose. She didn't realise Merle had left, nor did she realise or recognise the man that had taken his place. He was very generously supplying her with drinks but she didn't know why. All she did know was that forgetting everything that she didn't want to remember right now felt good.

Time passed at a rate Beth was unaware of but somehow the bar had grown even louder and more crowded as people filtered in after a long day at work. The man beside her, who was now kissing her shoulder, had grown merrier but was by far more sober than she was. There was no doubt in Beth's mind that she was probably going to go home with him and she was going to lose her virginity and she probably wouldn't remember who he was when she woke the next morning. But that was the life she wanted right now, getting so drunk you can barely control yourself, and filled with one night stands. But when would it start to make her feel good? Surely, even for a brief moment, everything would feel right. Maybe that would happen when she was lying in bed next the man, after everything was said and done, she would feel content then.

The man was now trying to cohere her into going home with him and she persuaded him to buy her one more drink. That filled shot glass was swiped from her hand and it took her a few moments to even realise it was gone. The man suddenly disappeared from her side and Beth swivelled around on her stool and met a pair of angry blue eyes. At first she didn't recognise them and she had to wait for her brain to catch up before she saw that it was Mr Dixon stood in front of her, with his arms crossed over his chest. Merle was by his side and was pushing away the man that had bought her drinks all evening and he protested with every shove.

"Y-you…you're such a snitch," She accused the older Dixon brother over the younger ones shoulder and she blinked as Daryl began saying something to her, "What?" She shouted other the loud voices but before he could repeat himself her drinking buddy and possible one night stand partner slid back to her side and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Lats go home, baby." He slurred into her ear and she leaned into his embrace, it felt good to be touched and her body was full of wanting. Beth placed a sloppy kiss on his lips and the man tightened his hold over her. She could hear Mr Dixon's sharp voice and he ordered the man away from her and she felt anger bubble inside,

"What right do you have tellin' him what to do?" she asked and Mr Dixon's eyes narrowed, a 'if looks could kill' expression evident on his face. Beth just folded her arms to mirror his stance and sat up straight, "I can go home with who I want."

"Yer seventeen," he stated in a matter of fact tone and grabbed the drunken man by the scruff of his shirt, earning his undivided attention, "She's underage."

"I won't tell if you won't." Beth slurred to the man next and he responded by lifting her from the stool and placed her on the ground in front of him. His arms fell over her shoulders and he leaned into her back, resting his chin on her head,

"Looks like that lady has made a decision," he looked between Daryl and Merle as though daring them to question him. They did of course and a war of words ensued. Beth listened in complete shock, her mouth dropping open, at some of the things that were coming out of Mr Dixon's mouth.

Like a lot of things at this bar, the argument ended with a fistfight and it was the drunken man who threw the first punch. It was aimed at Daryl but Merle cut in and knocked the man to the ground and jumped down after him. The pair rolled around and somehow others in the bar, probably friends of Beth's 'date' who needed as the help he could get, joined in leaving Daryl no choice but to jump in after in brother. It had became a four against two fight and even though the odds were against them the Dixon brothers were easily holding their own.

Watching the violence unfold in front of her caused Beth to sober, especially when it had paused just long enough for Daryl to grab her wrist and began to drag her outside. She just had time to snatch her purse from the counter before she allowed herself to be forcefully pulled out from the bar, Merle only steps behind her. Once outside she wretched her arm from his tight grip and rubbed it, glaring at him.

"What the fuck do you think yer doin?" He hollered, throwing his arms into the air as if to emphasise how stupid she was being. His whole body was trembling with anger and Beth could see bruises littering his body courtesy of the fight he had gotten in trying to defend her. The thing was though that she didn't need defending, she knew exactly what she was doing and all but told him that,

"What do you mean, what am _I _doing?! What the hell are _you_ doing?!" She hissed, coming forward to stab her fingers in his chest. Daryl just stared at her, a look of disbelief on his face as he tried to understand what she had just said.

"Yer really know how to pick em, don't ya girlie?" Merle said, interrupting the staring contest going on between the two. The older Dixon brother nudge the younger and pointed back to the bar were the men from the bar came stumbling out, new found anger in their steps and bottles and other items in their hands. Sub consciously, Daryl moved to stand in front of Beth and shielded her from view. Beth was taken aback by his actions and the anger that had controlled with suddenly faded. Another argument began but it was cut short when a second group, this one allying with Daryl and Merle, came to ambush them. The older of the two that stepped up, rubbing his hands together and hollered something like to do with 'the god ol days', before he jumped into the battle.

Daryl took a few moments to watch the occurring violence before turning back to Beth, planning on getting her out of here; he did a double take and saw she was already walking away.

"Beth!" he shouted as he ran in front of her and raised his hands, trying to get her to stop and listen to him, when she didn't he took a quick glance at where she was heading and saw her truck parked a few feet away. Beth had sidestepped him and had pretty much made it to her car but once again Daryl stopped her this time pushing her up against the car. She was frozen by his actions and it took him a few moments to realise what he had just done. He turned away from her hurt expression.

Beth saw he was momentarily distracted and she suddenly remembered what he had tried to say to her the afternoon before Mr Martinez had walked in.

"What did you want to tell me earlier?" Her question was a clear as the starless skies above them and he understood exactly what she was asking him. Daryl tried not to show his surprise but his mask slipped for a second and she caught it before his face turned back neutral.

"Yer not drivin'," He said finally, not answering the question, but when she lifted her chin defiantly he snatched the keys from her hand. Beth complained and tried to take them back but Daryl pressed her back against her truck with his arm. When she continued to struggle, he pressed his body into hers and gripped her head in his hands, "What the hell were you thinkin? This place, that man, coulda killed you."

Beth couldn't help but realise just how close he had gotten, his head only a few inches away from her own and she could feel his breath against her face. She tried not to look at his lips but they looked so tempting and her eyes darkened at the sight of them. She had never been this close to Mr Dixon and for the first time she realised just how handsome he really was. All those girls at school had been right.

Beth just looked at him, an unexplainable haze had appeared in her eyes but and she didn't try to hide it. Her mouth went dry and she subconsciously liked her lips and as she did so, a flush of red painted her cheeks. She didn't know whether it was the alcohol or the high she got from being so close to him but for some reason she felt confident enough to close the gap between them.

The kiss was soft and Beth felt Daryl tense against her, his whole body becoming ridged at her touch.

Beth tried to deepen the kiss but she found it hard because Daryl had tensed against her. She didn't let this falter her and instead she brought her hands to rest on his neck, feeling the heat radiating from it and it warmed Beth to her core, and pressed further onto his lips. His whole body was unresponsive but slowly, when her tongue had traced his bottom lip, he deepened the kiss by forcing his tongue into her mouth. This brought a chill down her spin and electricity ran through her as every hair stood on end. Daryl's lips were the softest she had ever felt, not that she had much to compare it to, and the taste of him made her head spin. Beth could feel her heart beat jumping erratically against her ribcage and felt almost embarrassed by how her body was responding to him. What consoled her was the feeling of Daryl's heart beating just as fast, just as hard, against her arm.

The kiss became more heated, frantic and her hands had become lost in his hair, he, in return, responded all at once and she felt his hands pulling her closer as his tongue battled for dominance inside her mouth. Daryl held Beth's waist and made sure she stayed flat against the truck behind her so that their bodies were crushed together.

They continued exploring each other mouths until Beth suddenly pulled back, her hand clasping her mouth as she shoved Daryl back, catching him off guard and he fell back against the car behind him, before stumbled to the rear of her car and began throwing up onto the gravel. She continued to empty her stomach, her whole body shaking at the energy it was taking out with of her and she fell back against the tailgate of her truck, gasping for breath.

Peeking through her eyelashes, Beth dared a glance at Daryl who was leaning back against the car she had pushed him into, arms crossed and his head turned away. She felt hurt by his lack of concern and tried to collect herself enough so that she could leave. Smoothing out her dress, Beth moved past him and opened the truck door only for it to be slammed shut by a hand just above her head. It lingered there and Beth turned to see him standing over her, a hard look in his eyes.

"I told ya, you ain't driving." She slumped at his words, her forehead pressing against his chest as tiredness suddenly swept over her. Tears began prickling at her eyes and she covered her face to try and hide the strangled sob that managed to escape from her mouth. Arms wrapped around her and she buried her head into Daryl's shirt, grasping the fabric tightly in her hands.

Her feet where suddenly lifted from the ground and Daryl carried her over to the passenger side and placed her in the front seat. Doing up her belt with a click, he slammed the door shut before walking around and climbing into the driver's side.

The truck started after a few turns of the key and Daryl took this as the opportunity to take a glance over at the blonde. She had curled in on herself, her shoulders tucked underneath her chin and her arms wrapped around them as her shoulders shook with sobs. He felt an overwhelming sense of pity and gently placed a hand on the top of her back. She flinched at his actions but her head popped up and she looked at him with a look of heartbreak in her eyes,

"Don't take me home, Daryl," tears began overflowing from her eyes, "I don't want to be alone." Silence took over the car and Daryl focused his attention on driving the car.

Beth couldn't stop the tears flowing and turned away from the worrying glances Daryl kept on giving her. She couldn't see much out of the window, it was pitch black, but the shadowy forms of the trees kept her attention as the sound of the engine filled her ears. The combination relaxed her enough to fall asleep.

She woke momentarily at the sound of the truck door being opened and the feeling of gentle hands slowly lifting her from the seat. The cool of the air kept her falling back under and she lazily opened her eyes but she didn't take in the surroundings, focusing out as soon as she realised she didn't know them. Her arms snaked around Daryl's neck and she pressed her nose into him, mumbling incoherent words about the cool. He didn't reply but warmth was given to her as they stepped through a doorway. It was dark and the only light coming from the streetlamps outside and Beth guessed that they were at his home. He didn't seem to mind the lack of light and expertly moved around the small space until he lowered her down onto a soft bed. Beth tried to see him through the darkness as her eyelids grew heavier but his form had blended into the background. She felt her shoes being removed then a quilt was placed over her. Before sleep overcame her once again she felt a brush of lips against her forehead.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, It's Wednesday and here is the chapter I promised! Thank you so much for your messages and I honestly can't believe that Beth kissed Daryl either. It all happened so fast ferkbglrengk...**

**I hope you like it!**

Chapter 10

Beth awoke with a start, her breathing sharp and uneven as she tried to slow the beating of her heart which was pounding in her chest at such a rate that she could feel it throbbing in her head. A layer of sweat layered her body causing her hair to stick to her face and as she brushed it away she felt the burning heat of her skin. A piercing noise rang out and Beth had to cover her ears to stop the pain but even then her vision became blurry as she tried with all her strength to block out the noise.

The memories of the night before came back in bits and pieces and at first Beth didn't recognise where she was. The room was small, large enough to fit in a double bed though the room could hardly fit anything else inside, a closet door was slightly ajar across from her and an almost identical one was closed next to it. Figuring it to be the bathroom, Beth climbed out of bed and went inside. It was almost like a cubical at school, every possible space being taken up by products or towels.

Wincing at her reflection she washed the smudged makeup from her face and used a comb, which had been left on the shelf below the mirror, to try and tame her hair. She didn't manage it very well and spotted a hair tie which she used to style her hair up into a bun. Beth didn't give much thought to what was in the bathroom or why Daryl had a hair tie in it. It was none of her business.

As she used some of the mouthwash to wash out the taste of sick from her mouth, Beth looked around the en suite trying to see if it held any evidence as to whether or not it had things belonging to two people. The products were all for men but there was a second toothbrush in the cup in front of her and she couldn't help the frown that set in on her face. Spitting and rinsing her mouth, she left the room and pulled on her sandals, which were by the foot of the bed.

It wasn't until she was about to leave the room and a beaten up collection of photographs caught her eye. She picked them up and began flicking through them, seeing two brothers playing around, one with their mother and then another of the whole family, dad included. She couldn't tell who the children were at first, but certain aspects of the mother and certain aspects of the father began to look familiar and suddenly it clicked. The Dixon brothers certainly were cute and Beth smiled. They looked innocent. Daryl looked like his mom and Merle looked like his dad.

The memory of the kiss had evaded her mind until that very moment and suddenly it all clicked in her mind and in she panicked, the photos slipping from her hand, littering the floor like autumn leaves. Footsteps from the next room made Beth drop to her knees as she began rake the pictures together, trying to put them in a neat pile where she had found them before rushing to, what she presumed, was to exit.

Slipping out she closed the door as quietly as she could but her cautious actions had not point to them as she locked eyes with Daryl who was stood at the end of the hallway. She looked away first, her face turning a bright shade of pink. He held himself like he always does, with an air of authority, but she could see a hint of colour in his cheek as well.

As if noticing she had caught him out, he gestured for Beth to something and she had to move down the hallway to see it was the front door. Shaking off the feeling of hurt she led the way out of the apartment.

The outside revealed that Daryl's apartment was on the second floor of an old converted motel. Beth noted that the place looked rather run down, with paint peeling from everything that was lucky enough to get a layer, as well as having a dated style which echoed throughout the building. She didn't envy living here but it seemed pretty quiet although she didn't even know what time it was so people were probably still in bed. It didn't seem like the kind of place for him to live though and she had often thought of him living in a house much like her own. It felt weird seeing were he actually returned every evening after school, it must not be anything to look forward to.

The parking lot was in the courtyard below and Beth spotted her truck. She didn't have her keys and assumed Daryl must still have them. As she turned back to ask, he shot her down with an icy glare. Stiffening, she kept her head down.

Daryl got into the driver's side whilst Beth silently got into the front seat. He started the car wordlessly and pulled out, driving them back to Jack's Tavern. On arrival he cut the engine and got out and she watched as he walked over to the only other car in the lot. As soon as he got in, the car lit up and drove away almost vanishing in front of her eyes. Sighing, Beth climbed over to the driver's seat and drove home.

The time on her dash said it was still early meaning she had time to tend the farm before school. Those two things gave her goose bumps as Beth remembered she hadn't been home to feed the animals last night. They would be starving. She had been irresponsible and she cursed herself for being so selfish.

But, accessing her farm animals with a watchful eye, they didn't seem to have missed her presence. The cows had eaten from the haystack in their pen whilst the chickens had seemed a little more restless but were fine as soon as she had fed them.

Walking back to the house Beth allowed herself a moment to ponder the last 24 hours and the weight of it all resigned on her chest, making her breathless. She had confessed things, drank herself silly, kissed her teacher and woken in his bed the next morning. Beth groaned audibly, it was going to be a long day at school and no doubt awkward. She would have to summon up the courage to talk to Daryl because even though she didn't remember everything that had happened on her night out, she did remember the kiss and just exactly how amazing it felt. There was a familiarity in the blossoming of butterflies in her stomach, the crush she had so often denied herself having, refusing to acknowledge them at all at first, had grown into stronger. Something she didn't recognise.

More than once on the drive to school Beth had the opportunity to turn round. Turn round, go back home and sleep the tiredness away that made her body ache. She should have done that because making her way through that day was like waking a corpse. She felt sick and groggy and every noise made her head pound even harder. It took her a while to realise that she might be suffering from her first hangover.

Every minute felt like an hour and Beth could no longer sit still, her body ached and the need to lie down was overwhelming. Fighting the urge Beth stood, ignoring the look from her teacher and other pupils, collected her things and walked out, muttering something about not feeling well. Her in lesson tolerance had been reduced to zero and she couldn't believe it was only third period.

For some reason a nap felt like a good plan and the only place she could have one would be in the backseat of her car. She would sleep till the end of lunch, wake feeling refreshed, go to her English lesson and then go home. However the only part of the plan that Beth carried through was the last part.

She drove home in silence and as soon as she got inside, she collapsed onto the couch, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the cushions.

Beth woke a while later, it had grown dark and as she turned on the light she frowned at its lack of response. Finding her way through the dark, not managing to miss the cabinet beside the couch, she hissed at the switch at the wall which she flicked back and forth, it wasn't working either. Using the walls to guide her, Beth managed to make it into the kitchen and found the box of matches on the side, lighting it she began rummaging through the drawers for a pack of candles she was sure she owned.

Holding the long wax stick out to light her way Beth moved to the front door, preparing to go out into the cold to see if there was something wrong with the light box. Stepping on something that wasn't carpet drew her away from her take and she looked down to see an envelope by her foot. Once in hand she turned it over and was met with large red letters which read 'overdue'.

"Dear Mr Greene, I am writing to…. Outstanding electricity bill… cutting you off." Beth ripped the letter up, throwing the shreds in the air above her head and let it rain down around her. There wasn't a worse time in winter for the electricity to cut off. It meant no heating since it was powered by their generator which, in turn, where fuelled by the electric lines. The only way to generate heat now was to either wear as many layers as she could whilst moving around as much as she could, which could work especially since she had the farm animals to tend to, or burn things on the log fire. The latter of the two seemed like the best option. She will move her bedding downstairs so she can sleep in front of the fire to keep warm; she had done it once before when the power had been cut during a storm so it didn't seem to be a very bad idea.

Using the packet of candles she had found in the kitchen, she began laying them out around the front room, trying to lighten it up a little to make it seem more homely. Once all the candles were lit, Beth stood back for a moment to admire her work, it wasn't great as the candles were only small, she would buy some more afterschool tomorrow, but they would suffice for now.

Beth collected her blankets and pillows laid them out in front of the fireplace. It wasn't lit yet and she pondered for a few moment whether or not it would be a good idea, she was warm now but it would get colder during the night. There were already fresh pieces of wood inside so Beth just lit a match and threw it onto the pile of timber and watched it slowly catch light. The blaze grew, lighting the room more and creating a flickering glow.

Curling up near the fire felt like she was around a campfire and her belly rumbled at the thought of marshmallows. There were none in the cupboards but Beth found a bag of energy bars. Settling back in her quilts, she ate in silence, enjoying the crackling of the fire.

The sound of a car making its way down the driveway alerted Beth and she scrambled towards the window just before the car skidded to a halt outside. The headlights were pointed into the window and she had to shield her eyes due to the brightness. Thinking who it could be Beth tried to squint her eyes to see the person who had just climbed out from the car,

"Where's our money?!" the person yelled and Beth barely had enough time to question his words when a large smash rang out followed by a hard knock to the head. She stumbled back, tripping over the coffee table and landed between it and the couch. The loud sound of wind filtering through the broken window mixing with the sound of the car speeding away from the house was all she heard before passing out.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The front window was now free of glass and the only covering was the netting curtains which wiped around with the wind. The stone which had caused its breaking lay around fragments of glass and Beth examined it through haze filled eyes. The colour looked familiar and she guessed it had probably lived on the farm before being taken.

She didn't have the control to get to her feet to Beth managed a crawl, on hands and feet over the glass which bit painfully into her skin, into the kitchen where she curled up underneath the table. Her head was spinning and it felt more painful than all the beatings it had taken courtesy of Hershel. It was excruciatingly unexplainable in terms of defining just what exactly she was feeling but the general gist was that it felt like her head hand been run over by a lorry or been hit by a flying slab of rock.

The stars danced around her vision, even though she didn't move an inch and Beth decided that wasn't a good sign. Using her hands and feet again, she crawled over to the counter and reached up for the phone. She swayed a little and had to take a couple of minutes to regain some of her surrounds but somehow managed it retreated under the table.

Beth traced the dials with her finger before she realised that she didn't have anyone she could call. She could phone Maggie but she was too far away to do anything plus she would probably freak out, Hershel hadn't left a phone number, she considered phoning Patricia and Otis but decided against it, not wanting to harm their professional relationship. The only other person she could call was Daryl but she didn't have his phone number but she did remember school's number and they could probably put her through. There were pros and cons to this idea, the biggest one being that Beth could tell the sun had only just risen for morning meaning that school wouldn't even be open yet.

She would have to wait but that scared her. What if those men came back and did more than throw stuff through windows? Beth didn't know how to defend herself nor did she know how to use the shotgun her daddy kept in the basement. The rational side of Beth pointed out that if the men were coming back they would have done it by now and she decided to listen to that voice.

But what did they want? One of them had asked where his money was but Beth didn't owe anyone apart from the electric company, money and they wouldn't go around throwing bricks through windows. In its hazed state, her mind couldn't come up with a logical explanation so she decided to rest her eyes for a few second, willing time to go faster.

Beth opened her eyes a little while later and peaked under the table cloth to see how light it was outside, if she could predict time based on the colour of the sky she would goes it to be past nine. Pressing the numbers into the keypad Beth pressed the phone to her ear and waited but nothing happened. She repeated the action twice over before her hand slapped her forehead, causing stars to dance around her vision, and she cursed in pain and at remembering the lack of electricity in the house.

Wracking her brain for other ideas Beth remembered that her mother kept a cellular phone in the drawers of her bedroom in cases of emergency. Getting up there would cause her great pain but she couldn't think of another way to get help.

Bracing herself, every movement caused her to go lightheaded and her vision to blur. It was agonizing and Beth blacked out twice; once whilst trying to climb the stairs, having gotten halfway and woke at the bottom, and the second time was when she had made it into the doorway of her parents' bedroom.

The phone was difficult to find due to the amount of drawers Annette had which were mainly full of clothing and other personal items. Beth ended up finding it in the back of the closet next to her shoes and she swore it was the worst place to put a phone.

Dragging herself across the floor, sliding down the staircase a step at a time, Beth managed to get back under the table. It seemed silly that this was the place she went for safety but her head didn't deem anywhere else to be better, she was probably suffering from some type of brain related injury.

Dialling the number for school she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding at the sound of it ringing. The school receptionist picked up and she tried to sound as professional as possible but her words came out in a jumbled mess,

"Mr Daryl phone please," Even though the person on the other end of the phone couldn't see her, Beth blushed furiously, "Mr Dixon." Was all she could choke out and she hated the way her body was betraying her. The receptionist put Beth on hold and she waited patiently, hoping he wasn't teaching, so the woman could get Daryl on the phone in the office at the end of his corridor and then she could be patched through.

"Yeah," Daryl grunted into the phone after a few minutes, taking Beth by surprise. She was taking a breath when he made her aware he wasn't being patient, "Spit it out or I'm gonna hang up."

"Daryl?" Beth breathed into the phone and her eyes dropped shut, the throbbing in her head moving down to the back of her eyes. The line stayed quiet for a few moments before her answered,

"Beth?"

"Hey," she whispered, her voice wavering as she tried to get her rising level of emotions under control, "Something's happened."

"Are ya hurt?" His voice was full of concern and she heard movement in the background but it quietened as he waited for her to answer.

"Yeah."

"I'm coming." he said and the movement began again. Banging could be heard and he apologised and carried on moving around,

"Be quick Daryl." Beth's voice broke on his name and she heard him answer firmly, telling her to hold on. The phone call was ended and Beth clutched the piece of metal in her hand, the other one coming up to cover her mouth. Sobs wracked her body as she tried to reassure herself that she wasn't alone, at least she wouldn't be for long. The thought of Daryl coming to her air made her even more emotion and she hoped and prayed everything could be sorted out. The thought of an outside force making her terrified to be inside her own home was awful. At least when it was Hershel she knew what to do to keep him from snapping at her. She really didn't understand why those men wanted money from her, she hadn't borrowed any shady dealer nor had she bought much else for that matter, just chicken feed from a farm a few miles away and she had paid in cash.

"Beth?" a voice called out and she froze before realising it was Daryl, he called out her name again and she had to clear her throat to reply. The sound of glass under boot could be heard before oncoming footsteps and Beth saw him as he stepped into the hallway before spotting her under the table.

His eyes were alarmed by the scene he was seeing but she didn't have much strength to console him. She climbed up onto her knee and forced herself forward into Daryl's arms as he knelt down in front of her.

"You came." She murmured into his neck, shoving her nose into his warmth. His arms circled her waist and pulled her tightly against him, his head coming down to rest next to hers, breathing in her scent and allowing it to calm him. He pulled back slightly and cupped her cheeks in his hands, he took note of the hideous purple bruise that dominated the left side of her forehead, and gentle used his thumb to brush hair out from her eyes.

"I'll always be ere' if ya need me." Daryl's words were soft and she smiled at him, tears spilling from her eyes. He pulled her back into an embrace and gentle lifted her, placing a hand under her thighs whilst the other was keeping her pressed against his chest.

Carrying her into the living room, he placed her down on the couch and grabbed the quilts from the floor to wrap over her shivering body. It was underneath these quilts that Beth's vision was taken by blackness once more.

The sound of broken glass being swept up caused her to wake and she moaned as light invaded her vision. Cracking her eyes open again she let them adjust before taking a glance around the room. Daryl was sat on the coffee table next to her and she gave him a smile as he laid a cold towel across her forehead,

"Hey." He whispered as he took the hand she stretched to him, he squeezed it and ran him thumb over her knuckles. Jerking his head off to the side Beth realised that there was someone else in the room and he was collecting the pieces of glass with a brush and dustpan before emptying them into a bucket nearby. She didn't recognise him at first but when he turned to her she saw it was Merle, who was offering her a wide smirk,

"Mornin' lil lady," he chuckled as she failed to give coherent reply, "got some sense knocked outta ya." Beth nodded, blinking a few times before she took her hand back from Daryl and began rolling over, wanting to get rid of her headache through sleep.

"Hold on a second, Beth." Daryl said and he helped her sit up, placing an aspirin in her one hand and a glass of water in the other. She threw the tablet in her mouth and gulped it back with the water. He then took the glass from her and placed it on the table beside him.

"We need you to tell us what happened." Beth understood but she wanted so desperately to sleep that her eyes began dropping shut before they had even asked the first question,

"Did you see who it was?" Beth shook her head, no.

"Did they do anything else apart from throwing the brick through the window?" Again Beth shook her head,

"Did they hurt your head?"

"Brick hit me." She whispered sleepily as he eyes closed her a final time.

The next few hours were blurry and every now and then she could make out a few words around her. The longer she kept slipping in and out of consciousness the more she could make out what the words the people were saying were. At first she didn't understand them, they were just random sentence fragments that she's managed to catch that made no sense on their own but when others voices were added to the mix, along with sounds, Beth realised that she was in the hospital.

"Bethy?" a female voice asked and she mentally ticked off the list of who it could be, Maggie was the last person left and as she opened her eyes, her sisters familiar face was hovering over her. Beth's face was twisted into that of agony as the pain in her head gradually got worse and worse as the room around her came into focus. Maggie sensed her sister's discomfort and quickly rushed out the room to find a doctor.

"You fell down the stairs." A rough voice said and Beth tried to look over in the direction it came from but halted her movements when the pain became worse. She clenched her eyes shut as the words began ringing in her ears, bouncing off the walls and echoing.

The door opened and Maggie and a doctor stepped in, they came to stand by her side with the man in white adjusting something on her IV. After a few moments the pain began to dim until it became a knowing feeling at the back of her mind and then that too disappeared and Beth felt like she was floating on a cloud.

"Beth?" The doctor said and she flicked her eyes at him, letting him know that she was listening. He held a clipboard and pen in his hand and he looked over the top of it at her, "You have a concussion caused by a serious head injury. To determine your level of treatment it is vital you tell us how you hurt it."

"I fell down the stairs."


	12. Chapter 12

**I cannot even begin to express my sincerest of apologies for not posting in such a long time. I have no excuse, other than procrastinating, but I can however promise that I will be posting once a week at least from now on. I love you all and thank you for reading my story. **

Chapter 12

It had been just under a week since Beth was admitted into the hospital for her concussion and it seemed as though everything was going well, the bruising on her forehead had calmed down a little but the colouring was still a deep purple. Maggie never left her side, often sleeping on the chair next to her bed or even wedging herself between the space Beth and the railing on the bed. At first Beth found this to be endearing but after spending so much time alone at the farm being in constant company was grating and she found Maggie to be quite irritating sometimes.

"Glen is dying to meet you… I never stop talking about you," Beth looked over the playing cards in her hand at her sister and let a sigh from her lips, this was a regular topic between them. Maggie had been pushing the topic of her fiancé and made it her top priority, finding it more comfortable to talk about rather than what had gone on at home or with Hershel. Beth was hurt that Maggie wasn't willing to talk about what had happened over the last couple of months but she understood why, the older Greene sister blamed herself. Maggie had always been so protective of her and she had always reacted with anger if anyone dared to threaten her younger sister. The topic of her future marriage was safe ground but there is only so much the pair could discuss before it became boring,

"He's been askin' if he could come down here and meet you," Maggie placed down a card and gauged her sister's reaction before continuing, "I told him it would be a good idea."

"He's not coming here is he?!" Beth asked in disbelief,

"It's not as though I'm just springing this on you now, I've been tryin' to tell you for ages," Maggie replied, her voice rising defensively,

"Oh really, like when?"

"Like when I called you and told you about my engagement," Maggie threw her cards down on the table that sat above Beth's bed, "Remember? Cause I sure do. You hung up on me!"

"I've had bigger stuff to deal with." Her voice was small as her attention fell back onto the cards in her hands, she didn't want confrontation right now.

"Like what?" Maggie huffed folding her arms over her chest, "I know you had it hard on the farm but we've all worked on there, doing it alone would be hard, I admit that but surely you could have had the time to at least pick up the phone and talk to me."

"Yeah well I had a business to run, money to earn. Not everyone can live off boyfriends," Beth threw her cards down on top of Maggie's and reflected her body language by folding her arms over her chest and glared her eyes. "I was on my own."

"How can you even say that, I tried to reach out to you but you just kept on blocking me off!"

"That because you wouldn't understand! You never understand!" Beth sat up straight, her face turning red with anger as her voice came out in harsh breaths, "I had to live by myself, looking after stupid farm animals whilst trying to keep my education. How could I talk to about that to someone who wouldn't understand what that was like? Especially since you're solution is to jump in front of my every obstacle and take it on the chin for me. I don't need you."

"I'm your sister, your family. Whatever you need I'm going to be there to help provide it for you. I shouldn't have to apologise for trying to help." Maggie threw her arms in the air in frustration,

"I don't need you." Beth repeated, collecting the cards on the table and straightened them out into a pile. The silence grew thick in the air and Beth could feel her older sisters gaze burning into her. She thought about something to say but no words seemed to form in her mouth. Nothing seemed appropriate until she felt her stomach churn and words suddenly came tumbling from her lips like rain from the sky.

"I didn't need you when mom and Shawn died. I didn't need you when daddy began drinking. I didn't need you when the girls turned against me. I didn't need you when Hershel began acting out at me and I certainly _do not_ need you now." The words came out in a low hiss that stabbed through the air and cut into Maggie like a knife, Beth could tell that from the look on her face.

"Should I go?" she whispered, defeated.

"Yes."

Maggie stood, collecting her things as she went and gave Beth one last glance before heading to the exit. It was when she turned to the door that the two realised that they had had a spectator for their argument. Daryl stood in the doorway, his arms folded and his lips set in a tight line. His blue eyes flickered between the two of them before settling on Beth. Wordlessly he stepped to the side and Maggie shot from the room like a bullet, a sob escaping her lips. Beth looked down into her lap, ashamed not only for causing her sister such hurt but for being caught doing it.

"I won't apologise." She said in a low voice, her legs rising to her chest and her arms wrapping around them.

"I won't force ya to." He dropped a folder onto the bed next to her and she began flicking through it immediately, groaning in frustration as the familiar sight of worksheets met her eyes. Mr Dixon had been bringing her school work every day since she had be brought to the hospital, she found his presence, unlike Maggie's, to be relieving and instantly felt safer knowing he was close. After everything she had been through he had always been something constant in her life and she found his willingness to be there to be comforting.

"You know Mr Dixon," Beth started as she shoved the folder into one of the drawers in her bedside table, "If I didn't know any better, I'd start to think that you liked me or something." This had been playing in her mind every day since her admittance, he had shown up at her hospital room every evening and offered her an ear which she gladly spoke to. Going on what she had known of him since before this school year is compassion to her problems was completely out of character. It was although he had become someone else around her.

"Whateva gave ya that impression?" he asked raising an eyebrow,

"Why else would you be here?" she asked faltering slighting at his neutral reaction to her playful accusation. Her confidence fell even more when he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, bringing he thumb up to his mouth to bit on his nails.

"Ma pa is in the hospital as well."

"Is he okay?" Beth asked forgetting her previous question and instead felt immediate concern for the man's father,

"He's on the mend," Daryl raised his hand to stop her answering anymore questions, "I think ya should apologise to yer sista." This made Beth's eyes narrow and her body go rigid,

"I thought you said you weren't going to force me to do that." She glared,

"Didn't say that," He shook his head, "I won't force ya to do anything that ya don't wanna do but that doesn't mean I'm not gunna advise you to do something that's right." Beth let his words of wisdom sink in a little and silently stared off into the distance. She wanted so desperately to say something that didn't sound childish but by the time she had come up with a reply he had gone.

Maggie came back the next day and brought with her a bag full of sweets, chocolate and fizzy drinks as well as one of their old picture album from the house. It didn't sink in to Beth that she didn't know that Hershel had gone and hoped that his absence at the house wouldn't cause another argument between them. She felt guilty for what she said but even more so that there was still so much that she hadn't told her older sister, after all Maggie had a right to no.

"Daddy's gone." Beth whispered as Maggie climbed into bed next to her, the brunette nodded as she placed the album between them and opened it to the front page.

"I know sweet pea," she looked up into Beth's large blue eyes and wrapped her arms around her, "Mr Dixon told me."

"He did?" Beth asked pulling away slightly, surprised by what was revealed,

"Yeah," She exhaled closing the book and clutched it in her hand, "He's the one that called me about you being in the hospital, he's been keeping an eye on you for me."

"What? Since when?" Was this the reason why Daryl had been so nice to her? Was she just some kind of charity case to him?

"He called me up when you had missed school for all those months, said he was worried. I told him I didn't know nothing about that." She ran a hand through her hair and leaned back, pulled Beth to her chest, "He rang me back up afterwards when you had shown up at school, told me what had been going on."

"And what did he say?" the impending answer sent her heart racing, had Daryl spoken to Maggie about the abuse she had suffered at their fathers hand? That information would break her older sister and Beth knew that her words earlier had hinted at something serious going on at home.

"That daddy had disappeared and that you were on your own." She pulled back and cupped Beth's face in her hands, running her thumbs over her cheekbones, "I don't know what happened whilst I was away but if you want to tell me then I will listen. I will hear everything." Tears where streaming down her face and Beth tried to swallow the lump in her throat, this was it, this was what she had been waiting for. Everything came bubbling up and began overflowing in the form of tears down her cheeks, between sobs Beth manages to gasp out some of the events that had happened since Maggie had left. Everything from Hershel's behaviour and the consequential actions to the sickness on the farm.


	13. Chapter 13

**Lucky number 13! Did you guys watch the mid-season finally?! AHH it was so good!**

**I've had a really good day so I thought I would update today (and maybe tomorrow). I was actually thinking about writing another Walking Dead fanfic, Bethyl of course, but in the same universe. I sort of already have it planned out. It'll be about how Beth is sick of being a nuisance around the prison and decides to start training herself privately, since no one will help her. It'll follow the same story line as the TV series but certain things will be different. I'm not sure whether I should write it, because there are so many stories like that out their, but if I do it won't be for a long time. I want to complete it until I post it, I made the mistake of not doing that for this story and now I feel guilty when I don't update.**

**I Hope you like this chapter, leave me reviews and stuff. ****Love you x x**

Chapter 13

Whilst Beth was in the hospital, Daryl and Merle had begun to riffle through their contacts hoping to catch the scent of anyone who knew what had happened there at the house. Their list of contacts was almost endless but even after making it through them all both had come up empty handed. They then decided to investigate what had happened themselves and made a pretty clear picture with what evidence there was. It was exactly like Beth had said; a car, by the tyre track it looked to be a Honda, sped down the driveway, skidded up by the house, then passenger got out the car and threw brick up to the window.

It annoyed Daryl that he couldn't find the perpetrators straight away and this annoyance became an irritation for Merle who was helping him without question. The older Dixon brother held back his fierce replies by biting down on his tongue but even then he couldn't help but lose his temper. They both became frustrated when the trail turned cold they ended up arguing with each other, then brawling. It would end before it became too serious but it still got pretty rough, leaving them both covered in bruises.

Beth's older sister Maggie had come from Atlanta when Daryl had called and she was grateful for this, having not visited home since the summer. She was completely out of the loop with almost everything and Daryl felt bad that it was he who had to fill her in, even though it wasn't the full story. He gave her the most well-known version; that Beth had been taking care of the farm by herself, their daddy had left in search of help for his addictions. The string of curse words that came from her mouth when he had told her that Hershel had taken him back slightly, the girl had a mouth like a sailor. Even though he felt awkward, not really being good with words, it needed to be done. Beth had spent too much time alone. The Greene girls needed time to speak, Beth needed to be the one to fill Maggie in on some of the things that had happened and that was the reason why he didn't tell her all he knew.

He ended up being the shoulder to cry on when she saw how fragile Beth looked in her hospital bed and he had to turn away from it, a murderous feeling stirring up inside of him because he couldn't believe how broken the young blonde looked. She looked a slither compared to the girl he had known the year before and he was angry at not realising how much weight she had lost. Daryl mentally made a note to talk to her about that later and a promise of being the one to take care of her carved itself into his brain and he was surprised at the feelings of protectiveness he felt over Beth. No one, not even Merle, had made him feel like this and Daryl had to stop thinking about the reason why he felt so strongly. Now wasn't the time.

Maggie hovered over her sister, tending to her every need, big or small, which left little time for Daryl to talk to Beth at first. He visited her every evening with the excuse of bringing her school work and she accepted this with a satisfied smile. It was nice seeing her every day and was always a welcomed presence, making a change from Maggie who was quickly becoming quite defensive over her younger sister. Daryl could tell that Beth loved her older sister with every fibre of her being but it was annoying that she was always pampering her and he knew it would only be a matter of time until she snapped. That's why he wasn't surprised when he walked in on their little spat.

Beth had been angrier than he had ever seen her before, it was a sight to see and it disturbed a part of him and he felt anger towards Maggie even though he knew that he was being an idiot. It wasn't Maggie's fault. He had no right to be mad especially at the brunette since she could probably be justified in her heightened emotions, and no doubt Beth deserved the guilt she had felt afterwards.

Daryl hadn't lied when he had said that his father was in the hospital but he did when he said that the man was the reason he came every day. Will Dixon had been in the hospital for quite some time now. He was a scoundrel who deserved everything he got, including the injuries that had gotten him admitted. The man had caused so much agony in every life he touched and Daryl felt an overwhelming sense of pain at the secrets he had to hide in order to protect him.

"Yer wastin' yer time wih that one," Daryl looked up at the voice and locked eyes with the man in the bed in front of him, "She's a lost cause." He narrowed his eyes at his father and fought an urge to beat his face in.

"Be quiet." He hissed turning towards the window and made himself seem distracted by the view it held in but in reality he was watching his father from the corner of his eye. The older Dixon shuffled in his bed, taking out his hidden liquor flask and took a gulp from it.

"I didn't mean ta do what I did," Daryl blinked slowly grunting in reply, he didn't want to do this right now, to talk about what haunted the two of them, but he wouldn't stop the admission that came from the older man's lips, "I didn't mean to kill those people."

"It's too late for that now." Daryl dismissed in a small mutter and turned sharply when his father began sobbing, watching as he dropped his head into his hands,

"When yer mama died I blamed that on you and Merle… She got so down after yer births, almost like she were a different person." Daryl's whole body stiffened at the mention of his mother, the parent he had been closest to, and averted his gaze. "I know it were me that caused 'er to drink tha way she did, I pushed 'er too far. I loved 'er so much."

"I had bin drinking cause' of 'er, she's haunted me ever since 'er death. That's why I were driving drunk… That's why I crashed into that woman's car."

"I said be quiet!" Daryl hissed, climbing to his feet a look of anger in his eyes. Will looked up at his son with pleading eyes, begging for forgiveness, something that Daryl couldn't give him. Never had he looked so guilty for his action, not even for what he had done to Daryl and Merle growing up. The man had driven drunk, crashed into Annette Greene's car and killed her and Shawn as well as injuring her Beth, he had then driven off to Merle's Garage and caught his son's whilst they were closing. There was no evidence, nothing to tie Will to the crime he had committed, Merle made sure of that when he had fixed up the beaten up truck. Daryl hadn't known that the crash was connected to Beth, he didn't even know the crash was as bad as it was. He only found out when he went back to school and all the teachers had been debriefed by the principle. Will made so many mistakes in his life, most of which ended up being inflicted on Daryl somehow, but this time he went too far. This time Daryl couldn't have a clean conscious after all he had helped the old man, even without knowing. He desperately wanted to tell Beth, to give her and the Greene family some closure but Will had begged them, begged on his hands and knees, asking for more time until he stepped forward.

Will Dixon didn't learn from his mistakes, he had a track record to prove it. As soon as his truck had been fixed he had been out on the road, drinking and driving again. The next crash had been a lot more serious and it had caused him some serious damage meaning he had spent the last couple of months in intensive care. It was only last week when he had been moved out and place on the same ward that Beth was in now.

Daryl shivered. He'd had enough of the secrets. Everything had become so fucked up and everything bad that had happened in Beth's life had happened as a result of that crash. And now she was caught up in something else, something much worse. Something he had no idea how to deal with because he had no idea what it was. Those men who threw the brick were serious in their actions, Daryl had heard many stories about loan sharks most of which ended brutally for the people involved. A heavy feeling in his chest told Daryl that something would happen. It didn't matter if Beth knew nothing about who they were or what money they owed. They would get their money and it would be the Greene girls who would give it to them.

"You've caused so much pain." Daryl said in a loud, hard voice. He stood up from his chair and walked out of the room.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for you're messages! Please keep them coming, they make me feel great!**

Chapter 14

The day Beth was discharged was the day that Glenn made his first appearance. He was quite handsome, in a geeky way. She got a better look at him after she had changed into her clothes and had sat on her bed whilst Maggie darted around the room collecting her personal items. The man had been skittish at first, too shy to speak his mind and remained politely helpful as he joined in helping his fiancé to pack Beth's things away.

"I want a piglet." Maggie declared as she zipped up the rucksack in front of her. Beth and Glenn shared a playful look before directing their gaze at the brunette who looked at them with a sly smile, "What?" she mouthed at them letting the smile take over her face.

"I'll buy you one as a wedding present." Beth said trying to act serious,

"Thank you dear sister, I will call her Coco Clementine." Glenn and Beth snorted with laughter, letting it take over the room. Maggie only had to watch them for a few seconds before joining them, doubling over the bed as they chuckled in a giddy manner.

The threesome collected Beth's things and the blonde sat down in the wheelchair which the nurse had wheeled in for her earlier. Maggie took the 'wheel' and pushed her down the corridors at such a speed that Beth couldn't help the squeals that left her lips. Glenn trailed behind them carrying the bags but smiling all the same.

The journey home was full of playful musing and comedic satire, Glenn made a particularly dark humoured joke that had left Beth gasping for her breath. Maggie even had to pull the car over so she didn't crash the car! It felt wonderful to be able to share a laugh with people who loved and cared about you, the people in this car were the only family Beth had left seeing as though Hershel had skipped out on her. As they pulled down the long dirt driveway to their home she couldn't help but smile to herself, she lived for the moments where everything just slotted into place, were she could fly as high as a kite and nothing could weigh her down.

"Where are the animals?" Beth asked as they drove past the large red barn whose doors were wide open, the lack of animals wondering around made her worried.

"We had to sell them in order to pay for your hospital bills." She frowned that high feeling suddenly vanishing. All the hard work that came from working the farm had gone with those animals; she had nothing to show for her efforts. Her chest began to ache, she wouldn't admit it but, she had become quite attached to those cows especially after nursing them back to health.

The car skidded to a stop outside the house and the first thing Beth noticed was that the window had been fixed. It looked slightly out of place, clean and slick with a fresh coat of paint compared to the old flaking older ones around it. Maggie had probably used some of the money from selling the animals to pay to get the window fixed. She laughed shortly and her head pounded at the memory of standing on the inside of the window with a brick that caused the still purple bruises on her head coming through.

Glenn carried her bags whilst Maggie gave her a piggyback into the house and deposited her on the couch with Beth laughing as she bounced against the springs. She watched as Maggie began dancing around the room, grabbing Glenn by the wrist as she went, waltzing around in a mock elegant fashion.

"Ten out of ten!" Beth declared clapping her hand as Maggie came to a stop and gave a bow, pulling the red faced boy she had seized down with her.

"Would you like a chicken dinner or a takeaway?" She asked as Glenn pulled his arm away and went to sit down next to Beth. The two looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders before looking at the slightly out of breath Maggie in front of them. She rolled her eyes giving a ballet spin and pranced out of the room declaring that they would be having a chicken dinner, leaving the pair alone.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the air becoming awkward and they both shuffled uncomfortably. Never before had she met one of Maggie's boyfriends, mainly because the older Greene had chosen from the guys that had chased her but it was obvious to Beth that it had been the other way around this time. Maggie could not be stopped if she knew what she wanted, that was a trait that they both shared. Beth couldn't help the large smile on her lips and Glenn looked at her with a confused stare,

"What?"

"Nothing," A giggle escaped her lips making the creases on his forehead deepen, "So you and Maggie." Was all she needed to say and watched with amusement as the Asian boy flushed a dark shade of red.

"Uh, yeah," He squirmed a little, itching the back of his head looking anywhere but her. She smirked feeling comfort from his discomfort.

"You love her?" Beth's face grew serious, fixing him with hard eyes, "You'll take care of her?"

"Always." He replied with a nod, his own face and body language changing to fit the situation. It was that word that made Beth let the breath she didn't know she was holding out, a weight lifted from her shoulders and from that moment she knew that Maggie and Glenn wouldn't have to be something she would have to worry about. Glenn would take care of her and Maggie would take of him.

"Glenn will you come help me in the kitchen?" Maggie called from the other room and Beth barely heard it buy the boys movement next to her affirmed that she had. He gave her another nod of the head which she returned with and smile before she watched him leave the room, stretching out on the couch, bringing her legs on so that she was laying on it completely.

Whilst waiting for dinner Beth stared up at the ceiling completely lost in thought. Somehow, no matter how hard she tried to focus on another topic, her mind always ended back on Daryl Dixon and somehow, no matter how much she tried to will herself not to, she couldn't stop the flight of the butterflies that took off in her stomach. It seemed as though she had developed a crush for her history teacher and, by no fault of her own, began replaying their times together in her mind, imagining thoughtful glances that weren't there, making up lingering touches that never happened. She was being childish but it passed the time.

Dinner was served and it was the first home cooked meal Beth had eaten since before Hershel had left. It sat warmly in her stomach making her feel completely satisfied to her very core. The ice-cream Sunday desert was like a bow on a well wrapped present, unnecessary but pleasing. Beth felt as though she was going to burst and her stomach poked out under her t-shirt.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Maggie asked from in between her and Glenn as they stat close together on the couch. The question was received with moans and Maggie sighed as she pulled herself out from them and sorted out a film for them to watch. She didn't tell what it was but considering it was almost Christmas Beth knew exactly what it would be, It's A Wonderful Life.

Beth wasn't sure when exactly she had fallen asleep but assumed it was somewhere in between the scene where George Bailey was talking about lassoing the moon for his love interest and the scene where he was trying to commit suicide. It seemed ironic to Beth that it was these scenes of extreme emotion, were the main character was experiencing the first blossoms of love and the darkest thoughts any one person could experience. It seemed as though her life was like a balancing weighing scale, she was going up and down, with emotion on one side and life events on the other, never seeming to be able to find the middle.


End file.
